Pain and Measurement

In this project, I will defend the view that the IASP definition of pain is prone to an epistemic tension when one try to reduce its assessment to either self-report or physical states. Once this epistemic tension has been highlighted, I will consider a candidate to go beyond the challenges posed by pain assessment—functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). I will argue that fMRI claimed ability to assess “objectively” pain rests on unchallenged conceptual and empirical issues, notably regarding the kind of evidence that fMRI provides.