The Myth of Pain (Philosophical Psychopathology)

The Myth of Pain (Philosophical Psychopathology)
By Valerie Gray Hardcastle



Publisher: The MIT Press
Number Of Pages: 314
Publication Date: 1999-11-19
ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0262082837
ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780262082839
Binding: Hardcover



Pain, although very common, is little understood. Worse still, according to Valerie Gray Hardcastle, both professional and lay definitions of pain are wrongheaded--with consequences for how pain and pain patients are treated, how psychological disorders are understood, and how clinicians define the mind/body relationship.

Hardcastle offers a biologically based complex theory of pain processing, inhibition, and sensation and then uses this theory to make several arguments: (1) psychogenic pains do not exist; (2) a general lack of knowledge about fundamental brain function prevents us from distinguishing between mental and physical causes, although the distinction remains useful; (3) most pain talk should be eliminated from both the folk and academic communities; and (4) such a biological approach is useful generally for explaining disorders in pain processing. She shows how her analysis of pain can serve as a model for the analysis of other psychological disorders and suggests that her project be taken as a model for the philosophical analysis of disorders in psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience.


Summary: A new paradigm
Rating: 4

The folk understanding of pain is pretty simple: if you feel pain, then it's because some part of the body is damaged, and the sensation of pain is a signal warning us to take care of the damaged part. If a pain exists without an identifiable damaged part, then such pain is supposedly a psychogenic pain, i.e. arising entirely within the head. Also, if a sensation of pain isn't felt, then you aren't suffering from pain. Finally, pain is inherently unpleasant.

The author argues that this folk understanding is wrong. Furthermore, mainstream scientific frameworks of pain implicitly adopt and build upon such folk conceptions. This too is wrongheaded. Instead, the author argues that pain is a complex biological phenomenon, that isn't a simple damage -> sensation mechanism. It is possible to feel pain without being distressed by it, as well as the converse. That most psychogenic pain is classified as such because current techniques can't detect physical anamolies. Also, the processing of pain is the result of an interaction between two distinct systems among others - the PSS(Pain Sensory System) and PIS(Pain Inhibitory System). Pain exists within context of overall neurophysiological activity, and the frameworks for pain analysis and treatment need to be aware of this fact.

I'm not qualified to critically examine this book, but the analysis is interesting and engaging.


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