Knightly societies equated dignity with person-to-person service

Evidence

An impoverished nobleman who became a cook or lackey did not thereby definitively lose his nobility: it only became latent and could be awakened again by a favorable turn of fate. But once he became a craftsman, his nobility was destroyed. This is entirely contrary to the modern conception, which separates the person from his achievement and, therefore, finds personal dignity to be preserved best if the content of subordination is as objective as possible. Thus, an American girl, who would work in a factory without the slightest feeling of humiliation, would feel wholly degraded as a family cook. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 350

Categorization

• CANDY: The nobleman-turned-lackey keeping his nobility but losing it as a craftsman is a startling, shareable contrast between honor systems.
• XREF: connects to: For nobility, forbiddenness itself constitutes a social privilege rather than a burden — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 496; Nobility smelted individuals into the group while aiming at individual self-sufficiency — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 522; Ubuntu personhood defines the self only through communal relation — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 4252 (+1 more)

Related

• Nobility smelted individuals into the group while aiming at individual self-sufficiency (similarity 0.86)
• Public honor requires a witness and links persons outside the kin group (similarity 0.85)
• For nobility, forbiddenness itself constitutes a social privilege rather than a burden (similarity 0.80)
• Nobility’s prestige depends on cohesive circle boundaries being recognized. (similarity 0.80)
• Nobility uniquely synthesized collective standardization with individual freedom (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Nobility smelted individuals into the group while aiming at individual self-sufficiency #expands (0.55) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 522
• For nobility, forbiddenness itself constitutes a social privilege rather than a burden #responds-to (0.50) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 496
• Ubuntu personhood defines the self only through communal relation #responds-to (0.50) — , The Rod and the Child, 4252