Pain and communication.
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.
van Hooft
Stan
S
Philosophy, Faculty, of Arts, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Vic 3125, Australia. stanvh@deakin.edu.au
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003142:Communication; D004645:Empathy; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D006801:Humans; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D059408:Pain Management; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology*; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics*; D018907:Privacy