The Rubinshteinic Philosophy On Antagonism

The Rubinshteinic Philosophy on Antagonism

Summary by Mr. Roland Leblanc

In this article, Mr. Tomasio Rubinshtein is getting us to consider different aspects that we can look at when we encounter antagonism...

Reading this article can help us see those hard to deal with circumstances as opportunities instead of negative experiences!

He is also explaining that he managed to go through a such experience that he managed to turn to his benefits such as motivating him to put more energy in mastering his creation of his site dedicated on philosophy!

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What is an antagonist? What significance does it have in the world of fiction, and what significance it can have on real life, in both unique situations and in everyday life?

• You may be surprised to know that a person does not have to be evil, manipulative, or malicious in order to be a "villain" or an antagonist.

• The only essential requirement to be an antagonist is to serve as any kind of opponent or conflict-maker to someone else, regardless of their behavior, goals, hopes and dreams.

  
  

• In other words, an antagonist is necessarily a source of adversity. To think an antagonist is a villain, is an assumption that stems from quasi-specific mentality.

  
  

• For instance: A psychopath isn't necessarily an evil man. He simply experiences and feels this world differently than most people do.

  
  

• Technically, even friendly competition can be regarded as a "battle" or "conflict" between a protagonist and antagonist.

  
  

• Case example: A game of a friendly sports marks the rival team as the antagonist.

It's not about being evil or good, even though in countless works of fiction, the antagonist is often the bad guy.

• It's the case because it's the easiest way to portray conflict between two sides—by using a stereotypical, simplistic form of a clash between basic, opposing terms that even little children can understand. Popular case examples are in superhero comics and in the Star Wars franchises.

  
  

• It's not to say that fictional works about good and evil are overrated. However, it's extremely easy to portray the hero as the good guy and the antagonist as the bad guy.

  
  

• That's although, in reality, it's most of the time not the case.

  
  

• Reality, for the most part, isn't about "black" and "white".

  
  

With that out of the way, we have to be honest:

• We can all be, to some extent, an antagonist to someone or some people, at least during a certain period of time—as much as we can be the opposite.

  
  

• The human social reality, both in real life and in the online world, is basically amoral, or a mixture of both good and bad in any choice we make.

  
  

• We humans, after all, have conflicting desires, and as long as we live and interact with each other, there will always be a potential for some conflict.

• Society is a necessary evil, hence why conflicts with people can be an inevitable possibility.

• It is often wise to avoid battles than to even start communication with people in the first place.

• That's true especially given the fact the world is becoming more and more corrupt and cyberpunk-esque as well.

The nature of conflict or adversity itself doesn't have to be a war, or an attempt to stop the "bad guy" from taking over the world:

• The antagonist can be your parents, your child, your partner, and even your friend. That's how basic the concept of antagonism is in our existence.

• The antagonist doesn't even have to be a person or even an animal such as a big giant bear.

  
  

• It can be an abstract concept or an unanimated object, such as finances, if you're struggling with money, or a computer that doesn't work when you need to use it.

Anything that cause you to struggle or have your brain on a mode of mental survival, is basically an antagonist.

The antagonist, in addition, doesn't have to be always present in your life in order to have their influence on you:

• Some people, and even contemporary issues, have an indirect, adversarial effect on your life, whether understood or even unconscious.

  
  

• In Shrek, for example, the main antagonist of the whole movie series isn't any of the main antagonist in any of the movies. -- it's actually an unnamed, unseen witch was responsible for Fiona, Shrek's love interest, to be cursed.

  
  

Your antagonist, regardless of the situation, does not have to be dominant in your life to serve as an obstacle in your path.

• That mysterious witch is responsible for Shrek's struggle in all of the movies—to leave his solitary and misanthropic life in order to be a part of civilization that doesn't always accept creatures of his kind.

  
  

• If that sorceress had avoided cursing Fiona, there would not be a motive for Shrek to rescue her, and thus the whole Shrek cinematic universe would not move forward, as there would be no conflict.

Therefore, the antagonist is always a catalyst for conflict, or even a series of conflicts.

Antagonism is also a matter of perception:

• Not every antagonist has to be a villain; they can be a hero, depending on the perspective and/or on the morality between the two sides.

  
  

• Technically, even a noisy neighbor can be an antagonist, even if they didn't break any actual law.

  
  

• For some perspectives, even a distressful baby can be an antagonist.

  
  

• An antagonist can simply exist beyond your walls without causing them any misfortune.

Sometimes, the antagonist doesn't even exist:

• In real life, there aren't necessarily any evil masterminds that plan your demise. However, people suffering from paranoia might think there are.

• Sometimes, an opponent simply exists as a concept, represented by a real life person.

• My conflict with the antagonist "Ms. Chen" is not direct with her. My conflict with "her" is in the idea that my unconventional mastery in philosophy is meaningless.

  
  

• This idea fosters the understanding within me that fuels me to be more competent than many other people when it comes to working on the Philosocom Article Empire.

  
  

Her words I decided to subvert.

• Despite my solitary lifestyle, I maintain a website that attracts daily visitors, allowing me to indirectly connect with others through my writings.

  
  

• The potential for this platform to exert a lasting impact on my life could have prompted me to abandon it entirely, yet I find myself compelled to continue.

  
  

Conclusions

• This feelings of struggle are not necessarily good or bad objectively.

• Feelings are basically tools.

• It is your choice on how to react to antagonistic feelings, perceived antagonism, or actual antagonistic acts and people and events on yourself.

• Your greatest asset to such experiences is the power of your mind.