This book is written in Latin.
Unraveling pain: how ancient thinkers defined and understood a common human experience

This edition examines how pain is defined, what causes it, and how it is felt in body and mind. Drawing on Galen, Aristotle, and later commentators, it traces the core ideas that shape the concept of dolor—from sensation to passion, from physical change to mental disturbance. The study explains how scholars argued about whether pain is a simple sensation or a complex state arising from body and spirit, and it shows how these debates have influenced medical and philosophical thinking.

The text clarifies key terms and debates, offering a guided path through centuries of medical philosophy. It foregrounds how definitions endure, even as terms shift, and shows the careful reasoning used to connect sensation, perception, and the afflictions of the body.

• How pain is defined as a kind of passion of the senses, not just a quality.


• The distinction between sensation itself and the passions that accompany it.


• Arguments about the causes and mechanisms behind pain, including changes in body and temperament.


• How early philosophers and physicians used logic to explain why pain arises and persists.

Ideal for readers of philosophy of mind, history of medicine, or early medical philosophy seeking a careful, accessible overview.

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