While in ordinary thought dignity is something some people have more than others, and undignified moments are a pitfall for all of us, in modern moral philosophy, especially that of Kant, dignity is more often considered as a universal attribute, an offshoot of the capacity for self-consciousness and practical reason. The capacity for self-legislation and the control of the will by the categorical imperative belongs to all of us, and is the foundation of the right to respect and to treatment as an end rather than as a means. See also great-souled man.