Self is the index of autonomy, of free self-determination, but self-determination cannot be known, it can only be guessed at by way of signs, largely learned from the study of others. What was thought to be self-determination often proves on deeper insight (which is not self-verified) to be other-determination, or heteronomy. The other here is faceless, it has no self, is pure mechanism and cannot be confronted directly. This is how we progress erringly.