Abstract

This chapter explains why status is currently an under-explored concept and why there is a need to provide a philosophical account. It begins by exploring how status was central to Roman law and legal philosophy until the early nineteenth century and how moral philosophers, from Pufendorf to Kant and Bentham, thought that it forms a distinct part of morality. The chapter then introduces the distinction between role-status and rank-status, discusses why they are two kinds of status, and gives an overview of the main argument of the book. It argues that status has always been part of human societies and that, historically, law turned status upside-down, rather than left it behind. The chapter concludes with some remarks on the scope of this book, the methodology employed, and a synopsis of each chapter.