What does it mean to be a good person? This question has been debated throughout most of human history, and yet no one has a definitive answer. Philosophers like Immanuel Kant and Søren Kierkegaard have very specific ideas on the objective standards of being a good person, and nowhere else are these traits exemplified as much as they are in the barber from Hernando Téllez’s short story, “Just Lather, That’s All”. In fact, the barber is objectively good from two standards; deontologically, epistemologically, and existentially speaking.
To start, what is deontology? In layman’s terms, deontology is a viewpoint of ethics that actions themselves are good or bad, regardless of any other factor. The question then is, ‘how would one know that an action is good or bad?’ Well, a priori knowledge, of course! A priori knowledge is knowledge derived from reasoning or experience, exempli gratia, ‘2 plus 2 is 4’, or ‘apples grow on trees’, or ‘murder is wrong’. Most people believe murder is wrong; even the Bible says it in Exodus 20:13, “Thou shalt not kill”. Likewise, the barber believes that murdering another human being is immoral. When questioning himself about the ethical qualms of murdering his rival, Captain Torres, he rhetorically asks, “What do you get from it? Nothing” (Téllez, 50). He believes that there is no point in murdering another individual, not unlike the famous philosopher Immanuel Kant. Kant believes that humans should be considered as ends in themselves, and thus, “[one] cannot, therefore, dispose in any way of a man” (Kant, 26). This means murder is pointless, given that human beings are invaluable. The barber is not wrong for saying one gets nothing from murder, because he does not see human beings as simply objects for disposal. He should not see humans this way, after all, “[he is] a revolutionary, not a murderer” (50).
Second, he is epistemologically good. What is epistemology? Epistemological ethics is an approach to ethics that attempts to justify actions using reason and logic. The most well-known example of epistemological ethics is the argument that, ‘the ends justify the means’, an idea popularized by Niccolò Machiavelli in his fictional story, “The Prince”. Using Machiavelli’s logic, a case could be made that Torres deserves to die. For instance, one could bring up that winning the civil war would be a great triumph for the entire nation. In order to win the war, the leader of the opposing side must be either (a) killed or (b) overridden. Ergo, Captain Torres deserves to die because the ends justify the means. However, when the barber considers killing Torres, he says, “he deserves it. Does he? No… No one deserves to have someone else make the sacrifice of becoming a murderer” (50). He believes no one deserves to die, that winning the war is not necessarily the biggest priority if a life is on the line. It should also be noted that killing or overriding a great leader is not the only way for a nation to triumph, for they could form a truce, similar to the Christmas truce of 1914.
Third, he is existentially good. Now, existentialism does not usually mix with ethics, but in this case, they work together. The existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard has insisted that every individual has their own ethical responsibility in life, a moral duty, one might say. This ties into deontology quite well, as each individual must follow their moral obligations set by a priori knowledge, among other factors. The barber knows his duty; “Just lather, that’s all… [he is] only a barber” (51). If Torres wants his beard shaved, the barber is morally obligated to complete the task. He even says himself, “I perform my work honorably… I don’t want blood on my hands” (51). He knows his place, his moral duty, and is following Kirkegaard’s teachings by putting his moral responsibility over his pleasure. It may as well give him more pleasure to kill Torres and bring triumph to his side of the war, but he puts that aside to fulfill his responsibilities as an individual.
To conclude, the barber is good in three ways; he shares Kant’s deontological view of not murdering another human being, he refutes Machiavelli on the grounds that the ends do not justify the means, and he is on board with Kierkegaard’s ideas of moral duty. Everyone has a moral compass, but that does not mean that all people are moral. The barber sets a good example for all human beings on how to be a morally good individual, and that is what is important.
Works Cited:
Kant: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b2a1/f5dcbf8bf21674acdffa76bd50db05d9ea4a.pdf
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