Facial Transplants: What are Authentic Faces?

Do our faces reflect who we are? Or do they display the person we would like to be? Or even the person our society would like us to be? What is the difference between "enhancement" and "reconstruction", between "improving" facial features and restoring them? To what extent is the definition of these terms determined by cultural assumptions, particularly when it comes to what makes our appearance "authentic"? This article critically investigates the frequently circulating opinion that face transplants serve to reconstruct, while cosmetic surgery "improves" our appearance according to our wishes. The historical case study presented here begins with the history of nose operations in Berlin in the 19" century and ends with the practice of face transplants in the 21st century.