Pub
Philosophy Group

Madrid

Do you have something to say about life, the universe and everything else but no one to say it to? You can tell us! We’re a group of friends who meet every Sunday at 5.30pm, Pub Molly Malone’s, to discuss a hot philosophical topic. And you don’t have to be a philosopher, only enthusiastic!

Sunday, 23rd May 2004,
5.30pm start at Molly Malone’s:

“Is pain necessary for life?”

If you have any ideas or friends bring them along with you.

Contact:

Lawrence       [email protected]               tel 606081813

www.geocities.com/philomadrid

Pub Molly Malone’s, c/ Manuela Malasaña, 11, Madrid 28004
metro: <Bilbao> :                  buses: 21, 149, 147

TEXT BELOW

Is pain necessary for life?

Hereditary sensory autonomic neuropathy Type 5 is not an option. And I quote, “…..Hard as it is to fathom Gabby Gingras feels no pain. There is no cure, nor will she outgrow it.” (Boyd Huppert, KARE 11 News, Big Lake)  “Because Gabby feels no pain, she no longer has any teeth...........Pain is the protective mechanism, and she doesn't have that," says neurologist Stephen Smith of Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare. Gabby is today 3 years old.

Pain covers some very specific and interesting philosophical ground. We have the ever present ethical issues of pain. On the one hand we have the issue of causing pain, for example, when administered as corporal punishment. But equally controversial we have pain in the context of euthanasia and mercy killing of terminally ill patients.

In philosophy of mind and self awareness we can ask the question, “what is it like to be Gabby?” Can we really know what it is like not to feel pain, which is of course different from, I know what I feel when I haven’t got any aches or pains. Nor is it a question asking what is a negative of something like? Don’t forget, Gabby can easily ask what is it like to feel pain? What will your answer be?

This immediately leads us to the public language and private experiences debate. How can we use a public language, for example, “I feel a pain in my shoulder”, to describe something that only I can feel? Changing the subject, what is the linguistic import of such concepts as dread, sorrow, grief and sadness. All these involve some idea of pain. Furthermore, is there any fundamental difference amongst such actions as hurting people, inflicting pain and causing pain.

Take pain in the context of love. No doubt we all agree that a rejection by a beloved object, to use Spinoza’s terminology, is painful, it hurts and causes a lot of pain type sadness. Yet the moral and metaphysical import does not seem to be the same as say, slowly stabbing out a big fat cigar on someone’s chest. Is this because there is a substance/form type of difference between these two types of pain?

Let us look at pain in a wider context. War and pain seem to go hand in hand. Common sense morality tells us that inflicting pain, forget about the killing factor for now, is a vile aspect of war. A shrapnel in someone’s side is not only painful, but also inhuman. But what about environmental pollution which causes suffering, maybe through weather disasters or worse, toxic agents? Surely the victims of environmental pollution feel the same pain as the victims of war. Or is there an issue of casual link or causal distance here?

Why do we “Stop the War” but not “Stop Particulate Matter”? Why might a poke in the eye elicit a call to the police, but a rejection only a stiff drink down at the pub? Maybe war and a poke in the eye are sexier. Maybe some pain is in the brain and some pain is all in the mind. But which of them is necessary for life?

See you Sunday, Lawrence