The experience of pain and its ontological modelling from a philosophical point of view: Phenomenological description and ontological revision of the McGill Pain Questionnaire

Abstract

The aim of the article is to identify, on the basis of the phenomenological and ontological analysis of the experience of pain and the ways in which this experience is expressed in natural language, an ontological modelling of the language of pain and, at the same time, a revision of the traditional version of the McGill questionnaire. The purpose is to provide a different characterisation and an adequate evaluation of the phenomenon of pain, and, consequently, an effective measure of the actual experience of the suffering subject.

Editorial for the 2023 philosophy thematic edition: Treating the whole person: Philosophical health

“…Pain is also a preoccupation of the paper by Roberta Lanfredini and Letizia Cipriani 43 . The authors employ a phenomenological analysis of the experience of pain and the ways in which this experience is expressed in natural language, to develop an ontological modelling of the language of pain.…”