1. See also

2. References

A lesbian rule was historically a flexible mason's rule made of lead that could be bent to the curves of a molding, and used to measure or reproduce irregular curves.^[1][2][3] Lesbian rules were originally constructed of a pliable kind of lead found on the island of Lesbos.^[4]

The rule is alluded to by Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics (bk V, ch. 10) as a metaphor for the importance of flexibility in equitable justice: "For what is itself indefinite can only be measured by an indefinite standard, like the leaden rule used by Lesbian builders; just as that rule is not rigid but can be bent to the shape of the stone, so a special ordinance is made to fit the circumstances of the case."^[5]

In the early modern period the term was often used figuratively (as Aristotle had used it) to mean a pliant, flexible and accommodating principle of judgment^[1] – sometimes with overtones that were positive, but sometimes in a more pejorative sense. In his famous letter to the Louvain theologian Martin Dorp, Thomas More referenced it when reproving Dorp for his attack on Erasmus' In Praise of Folly: "You praise Adriaan for being unbiased, yet you seem to suggest he is no more unbiased than a Lesbian rule, a rule made out of lead which, as Aristotle reminds us, is not always unbiased, since it bends to fit uneven shapes."^[6] Samuel Daniel in 1603 described equity as "that Lesbian square, that building fit, Plies to the worke, not forc'th the worke to it".^[7] In the later 17th century, the antiquary John Aubrey used the metaphor to imply the distortion of evidence to fit a preconceived theory. He accused Inigo Jones, who had interpreted Stonehenge as a Roman monument, of having "made a Lesbians rule, which is conformed to the stone: that is, he framed the Monument to his own Hypothesis, which is much differing from the Thing it self".^[8]

See also

• {{annotated link|Flat spline}}
• {{annotated link|French curve}}
• {{annotated link|Profile gauge}}

References

• Self Organizing Map
• Self organizing system
• Self-organizing system
• Self organizing systems
• Self-organizing systems
• Self-oscillation
• Self oscillation
• Selfoss
• Self ownership
• Self-ownership
• Self-parenting
• Self-parody
• Self-perception
• Self-perception theory
• Self-phase modulation
• Self-pollinating
• Self-pollination
• Self portrait
• Self Portrait (Bob Dylan album)
• Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers
• Self-powered
• Self-powered car
• Self powered hub
• Self presentation
• Self-presentation