Nobility is of real significance only so long as it defines a social circle that is highly cohesive and that hence sets itself off all the more energetically from the mass of all other circles; from those below and from those above. To deny the worth of the nobility signifies a breakdown of both these criteria: on the one hand it signifies a recognition of the value of the personality, whatever circle of birth it belongs to; on the other hand, it signifies a leveling with regard to those above whom one would otherwise raise oneself.

DEFINE: Clarifies the sociological function of nobility as social circle rather than individual worth — worth attaches to the group's boundaries.

Georg Simmel, on individuality and social…, loc. 662