
Pain
New Essays on Its Nature and the Methodology of Its Study
Murat Aydede(Editor)
Bradford Books (Publisher)
Published on 2. December 2005
Book
Hardback
442 pages
978-0-262-01221-8 (ISBN)
Description
What does feeling a sharp pain in one's hand have in common with seeing a red apple on the table? Some say not much, apart from the fact that they are both conscious experiences. To see an object is to perceive an extramental reality-in this case, a red apple. To feel a pain, by contrast, is to undergo a conscious experience that doesn't necessarily relate the subject to an objective reality. Perceptualists, however, dispute this. They say that both experiences are forms of perception of an objective reality. Feeling a pain in one's hand, according to this view, is perceiving an objective (physical) condition of one's hand. Who is closer to truth?Because of such metaphysical issues, the subjectivity of pains combined with their clinical urgency raises methodological problems for pain scientists. How can a subjective phenomenon be studied objectively? What is the role of the first-person method (e.g., introspection) in science? Some suggest that the subjectivity of pains (and of conscious experiences in general) is due to their metaphysical irreducibility to purely physical processes in the nervous system. Can this be true?The study of pain and its puzzles offers opportunities for understanding such larger issues as the place of consciousness in the natural order and the methodology of psychological research. In this book, leading philosophers and scientists offer a wide range of views on how to conceptualize and study pain. The essays include discussions of perceptual and representationalist accounts of pain; the affective-motivational dimension of pain; whether animals feel pain, and how this question can be investigated; how social pain relates to physical pain; whether first-person methods of gathering data can be integrated with standard third-person methods; and other methodological and theoretical issues in the science and philosophy of pain.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Massachusetts
United States
Publishing group
MIT Press Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
US School Grade: From College Freshman to College Graduate Student
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
10 illus.; 10 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 178 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
862 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-262-01221-8 (9780262012218)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
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Book
12/2005
Bradford Books
€9.85
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Person
Murat Aydede is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Florida, Gainesville.