noun
the thing itself
General noun meaning the object or matter in and of itself, without external considerations.
問題は彼の態度ではなく、物自体の価値だ。
The problem is not his attitude but the value of the thing itself.
noun
thing-in-itself (Kantian philosophy)
Technical term in Kantian philosophy for the noumenon, the object as it is independently of perception.
In Kantian philosophy, the thing-in-itself is considered unknowable.
Compound of 物 (もの, thing) + 自体 (じたい, itself). The philosophical sense is a translation of German 'Ding an sich'.