Is Pain Natural? A Study of Stoic Philosophy

Jean-Christophe Courtil

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Chapter 5 Is Pain Natural? A Study of Stoic Philosophy

In: Pain Narratives in Greco-Roman Writings

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Jean-Christophe Courtil

Jean-Christophe Courtil
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 98–120

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004677463_006

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Abstract

Living in accordance with nature is the Stoic motto, the ideal which is the main foundation of Stoic ethics. The reflection on pain in accordance with nature is therefore a central question in the Stoic thought. Physical pain, as a normal sensory reaction of our organism, is a physiological phenomenon that is part of human nature. However, suffering disturbs physical and mental harmony that naturally reigns in man, thus compromising the “absence of perturbation” promised by Hellenistic philosophy. This ambivalence can already be found in Stoic thought, especially in Seneca’s work, who gave a fundamental place to physical pain. Claiming the natural or unnatural characterisation of pain faces the problem of the polysemy of the terms dolor and natura. Pain is natural as long as it is not passion, but once it has become passion, it is an unnatural phenomenon. Moreover, if nature seems to go against our human nature, it coincides with the universal nature according to which pain befalls men in their own interest. But the different meanings of dolor and natura, far from being contradictory, allow to build a coherent system, with a subtle notion of pain, which is seen not as a monolithic reality, but as an evolving phenomenon, of which the very evolution is to witness the quality of the sufferer’s soul.

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Pain Narratives in Greco-Roman Writings

Studies in the Representation of Physical and Mental Suffering

Series: Studies in Ancient Medicine, Volume: 58

Cover Pain Narratives in Greco-Roman Writings

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004677463

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 29 Jun 2023

Subjects
- Classical Studies
  - Ancient Science & Medicine
  - Greek & Latin Literature
- History
  - History of Medicine

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Chapter 5 Is Pain Natural? A Study of Stoic Philosophy

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Pain Narratives in Greco-Roman Writings

Studies in the Representation of Physical and Mental Suffering

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