Abstract

The chapter is a discussion of value of self-knowledge and the role that reflection plays in its acquisition. It employs the title character in Jane Austen’s _Emma_ as an illustration of the importance of reflection in people understanding themselves and developing self-trust. It argues that appropriate self-trust is a virtue in Aristotle’s sense. The person with the virtue of self-trust employs self-doubt effectively, avoiding both insufficient and excessive confidence in her own judgment. The chapter shows how Emma uses reflection as a way of correcting her own tendency toward overconfidence, enabling her to have greater self-knowledge and hence, greater self-trust. The chapter explains how reflection conducive to self-knowledge and self-trust is a skill and argues that it is a skill worth acquiring.