Philosophers have often understood self-knowledge's value in instrumentalist terms. Self-knowledge may be valuable as a means to moral self-improvement and self-satisfaction, while its absence can lead to viciousness and frustration. These explanations, while compelling, do not fully explain the value that many of us place in self-knowledge. Rather, we have a tendency to treat self-knowledge as its own end. In this article, I vindicate this tendency by identifying a moral reason that we have to value and seek self-knowledge that is independent of the reason that we have to value the beneficial ends that it helps us achieve. I argue that we are in an inescapable relationship with ourselves that requires both self-love and self-respect. Self-love gives us a noninstrumental reason to know ourselves, while self-respect demands that we take this reason seriously. To pursue a project of self-discovery carefully and for its own sake, then, is part of what it is to stand in a loving and respectful relationship with ourselves.

中文翻译：

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了解自己并值得了解

哲学家们常常以工具主义的术语来理解自我认识的价值。自我认识可能是一种有价值的道德自我提升和自我满足的手段，而缺乏自我知识可能会导致恶毒和挫败感。这些解释虽然令人信服，但并不能完全解释我们许多人对自我认识的重视。相反，我们倾向于将自知之明视为自己的目的。在本文中，我通过确定我们必须重视和寻求自我知识的道德理由来证明这种趋势是正确的，而这种理由独立于我们必须重视它帮助我们实现的有益目标的理由。我认为我们与自己处于一种不可避免的关系中，需要自爱和自尊。自爱给了我们一个了解自己的非工具性理由，而自尊要求我们认真对待这个理由。因此，为了自我发现而谨慎地追求自我发现的项目，是与自己保持爱和尊重的关系的一部分。