The Antagonistic Self: Politics and the Political

This work uses a critical existential perspective as a means to address the relation between self and state constitutions while also utilizing an open ended, anti-essential approach to the study of politics and the political. This is done in order to provide ideological distance in constructing an understanding of ones being as political, even if only through temporal encounters in the demos. Individual engagement within the political is phenomenologically assessed through identifying key markers of a distinctly antagonistic political experience from ones particular, reflective position. The state, on the other hand exists with more permanence and as such is perceived, changed, and acted upon in the temporal coming together of the political. Thus, the constitution of the self is the focus throughout, with the state being a pole from which we position ourselves. An analysis of differing self and state comparison is identified from great works of the canon of political philosophy in order to provide a basis for an open ended constitution model that reflects good faith political action. The existential type of action discussed here poses a challenge for being as it requires consistent action, reflection and a responsibility for our choices regardless of whether or not one engages as a spectator or an actor