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I think this essay is about the exact opposite of operationalizing. It's about an internal feeling or life of the mind. One of the examples she points to is how the exact same action (e.g. having an affair) can originate from and result in very different mental attitudes.

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> the exact opposite of operationalizing

Or what Kant called "instrumental reason". Doing something not because it's the right thing to do, but because we hope to get something out of it. A means not an end. Paradoxically thinking that way we commmodify (reify) ourselves (see Erich Fromm). Gotta break out of that "what's in it for me?" mindset. Then self respect looks a bit like great art, you'll know it when you feel it.

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