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> 人間に[上下]{じょうげ}はない。  
>  People are equal.

Why the use of に after 人間? Are we treating 人間 as a "location" where 上下 is
absent?
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2013-09-08T06:53:56.720
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particle-に
Use of に in 人間に
It most likely means "for" in this context. One might think of it as `において`.
And 上下 is probably 上下関係.
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2013-09-08T08:02:43.270
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I actually think "among(st)" sounds better than "for". It could be replaced by
`の間に` or `の中で`. But pick your poison.
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2013-09-08T17:41:23.243
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I think there are several ways to analyze this construction, so this answer
isn't supposed to be in contrast to the other answers.

One way that ある and ない (and いる and いない respectively) can sometimes be
translated is "have" and "not have" with the subject of "have" being marked
with に

> 彼には家がある  
>  he has a house
>
> あの人に子供はいない  
>  That person doesn't have kids

Similarly for the example sentence:

> 人間に上下はない  
>  Humans do not have hierarchy

EDIT:

This seems to be called a [dative
construction](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dative_construction) and is
featured in several languages. Thanks to snailboat for the info.
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2013-09-12T00:55:04.217
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