Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Thursday January 24 2019, @02:26AM   Printer-friendly
from the With-great-beard-comes-great-responsibility dept.

Philosophers deal with real, empirical, questions! From Quartzy, the ethical question of male facial hair.

Those who believe growing a beard is a personal fashion choice need to reconsider. The bristly facial hair of men is, in fact, the physical embodiment of deep ethical and aesthetic considerations. Henry Pratt, philosophy professor at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, wrote a detailed analysis of such philosophical conundrums in his aptly titled paper, “To Beard or Not to Beard: Ethical and Aesthetic Obligations and Facial Hair.”

Why now: well, it all goes back to the "fool says in his heart" guy, St. Anselm.

In this paper, presented at the January 2019 eastern division meeting of the American Philosophical Association in New York, Pratt considers the premise set out by Saint Anselm of Canterbury, an 11th century philosopher. Anselm writes:

Not having a beard is not dishonorable for a man who is not yet supposed to have a beard, but once he ought to have a beard, it is unbecoming for him not to have one. In the same way, not having justice is not a defect in a nature that is not obligated to have justice, but it is disgraceful for a nature that ought to have it.

The take-away:

However, one surprising consequence of my philosophical work on pogonotrophy is that I now find myself thinking that the choices made by myself and others about what to grow on our faces are actually pretty important. I find myself wondering whether I should worry about the masculinity projected by my beard, and the effects thereof. I also consider whether friends and associates should have the facial hair they grow. But just as it’s a bad idea to tell other parents they’re raising their kids wrong, I think it’s a bad idea to tell others that their beards are wrong. So far.

Other relevant sources:
The Philosophy of Beards: A Lecture Physiological, Artistic and Historical, by Thomas Gowing; 1875;
The Philosopher’s Beard
Beard Taxes!
The Gentleman Lawyer’s Guide to Facial Hair
"Law of Conservation of Facial Hair" still applies.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Nuke on Thursday January 24 2019, @10:22AM (1 child)

    by Nuke (3162) on Thursday January 24 2019, @10:22AM (#791168)

    Did not even occur to me that it was some alpha male thing to grow a beard.

    Neither did I. The initial impression that a beard gives (like a name) depends on who you have known in the past with one. I have known some complete jerks with beards, who seem to have grown it in an attempt to get others to take them seriously. One thing is certain - a beard makes a man look older than he is. I have also known some very small men who have grown one, presumably because they would rather be mistaken for a garden gnome than for a boy.

    I don't know how women can stand men with beards : the sexual act must feel like their boobs being rubbed with a wire brush, depending on heights of course, so perhaps they stick to the Helicopter Position, which saves her from having to see the beard too.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Funny=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Funny' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   3  
  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 24 2019, @06:23PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 24 2019, @06:23PM (#791352)

    Says tha bald faced ninny who leaves a rash on his lovers where ever his face might lay. Either that or you're hyper anal and shave each and every day, meaning you've got soft hands an a sad pool of pud hardly fit for anything related to what might ve called fucking. I bet you don't even go down on your man. Take your Boy George and your Village People album and get the fuck outta here Liberace