This is philosophy Bites with me, David.
Edmonds, and me, Nigel Warburton.
Philosophy Bites is available at www.philosophybytes.com.
Philosophy Bites is made in association with the Institute of Philosophy.
This week's philosophy bites is more pain than pleasure.
There are several intriguing philosophical puzzles about pain.
Where, for example, do we experience it?
If I cut my finger, it's the pain in my finger or in my brain.
What does pain reveal about consciousness?
It was a pleasure to discuss these questions with Michael Tighe of the University of Texas.
Michael Tighe, welcome to philosophy Bites.
Hello.
Nice to be here.
We're going to focus on pain.
Obviously, that's an important topic in most people's lives from an experiential point of view.
But what's the philosophical issue about pain?
I doubt that there's one philosophical problem of pain, but I'm interested in pain as a conscious state and in understanding how to locate the characteristic conscious feel of pains within a world which I think as a whole is purely material.
So somebody steps on my toe, I feel the pain.
I'm a conscious, pain suffering individual.
I don't understand what the philosophical problem is there.