Would the Barber of Seville Shave a Bearded Woman?

I sometimes consider how Bertrand Russell, the famous mathematician and philosopher, fretted away a whole year, from 1903 to 1904, contemplating this one thought:

A man of Seville is shaved by the barber of Seville if and only if the man does not shave himself.  Does the Barber shave himself?

I find difficulty in imagining an intelligent man contemplating such a thought for an entire year and more difficult to consider that this paradox seemingly blew out of the water all mathematical logic.  But here is the paradox: If the barber shaved himself—he didn't shave himself.  If the barber didn't shave himself—he did shave himself.

Think about that for a moment.  Read the italicized sentence a few times.  Think a bit more.  As I read about this philosophical and mathematical dilemma and tried to solve the problem myself, I realized that Mr. Russell suffered from a lack of options.  I reconfigured the question posed by Russell and added a few options.

What if a woman has a mustache to shave?  How does that fit?

What if the barber actually grows a beard that he never even trims?

What if—by genetic defect or as result of auto immune disease—a man has no body hair, and never shaves?

Is the barber of Seville technically a barber as he strolls down the street?  When he eats?  Does his  shaving count if he shaves himself at home instead of at his shop?

How much does the barber of Seville charge for a shave?

Should you tip him?

What if you had a trench to dig...would you hire a philosopher or the barber of Seville?

What were we talking about?

 

--Mitchell Hegman

Note: I may have posted a slightly different version of this a few years ago on this post.  Also, I shave myself.