Pain and communication.

Full Abstract

It is frequently said that pain is incommunicable and even that it "destroys language". This paper offers a phenomenological account of pain and then explores and critiques this view. It suggests not only that pain is communicable to an adequate degree for clinical purposes, but also that it is itself a form of communication through which the person in pain appeals to the empathy and ethical goodness of the clinician. To explain this latter idea and its ethical implications, reference is made to the writings of Emmanuel Levinas.

Author information

Author/s: van Hooft, Stan (S);

Affiliation: Philosophy, Faculty, of Arts, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Vic 3125, Australia. stanvh(-atsign-)deakin.edu.au

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Medicine, health care, and philosophy (Med Health Care Philos), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-; vol 6 (issue 3) : pp 255-62

Dates: Created 2003/11/17; Completed 2004/01/05; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 14620462, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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