The essay explicates the essence and the limits of the life world of enlightenment in terms of its basic notion of primacy of the will and constructed values to be realized in and through instrumental reason. It shows that at the level of values, all events, including humans, are equivalent to the extent that they can be treated as means for the sake of better life, security, greed, production, technical progress, genetic manipulation, and even social functioning. This leveling leads to a question of criteria among the world of values: which values are “worth” having, and such a criterion cannot be one more value among others. Resultantly, the “background” awareness that led to enlightenment comes to the fore to raise the question of legitimation of the entire life world of values: the criterion is “self-worth” with its specific characteristics of action: honor, self-other respect, dignity, truthfulness. Can the life world of all values allow self-worth to be enacted?

Keywords: value, self-worth, transcendental, construction, constitution, categorical, tautogorical, enlightenment, instrumental reason