I seem to vaguely remember a term that means something like "for its own sake," so that it might be used in a sentence like this: "I contend that bread is good not only for the taste or the health benefits it brings, but [for its own sake]."* I believe the term comes up in philosophy, so if nothing in common English usage comes to your very bright minds, I suppose I could ask around on the Philosophy Stack Exchange as well.
*Just a quick note: in most of these situations, the words "intrinsically" or "essentially" might suggest themselves, but, if I may draw the distinction, I do not want a word that means "in itself," but "for itself" (and not quite in the Sartrean sense). In other words, I do not want to say only that goodness (or badness, or orangeness, or malleability...) is a necessary property of the thing, but I do want to say that the thing is good (or bad, or orange, or malleable...) without reference to any further end or relation.
EDIT: If it helps, this word would be a good antonym for "pragmatic" or "utilitarian" (in the strict senses of the words), and it would have positive connotations.