ABSTRACT

This chapter analyses the reasons for which one may argue that pain is inseparable from the sense of bodily ownership. It may be because the sense of ownership is given by pain, or it may be because pain requires the sense of bodily ownership. The chapter then assesses whether it is really impossible to feel pain in an 'alien' body in light of borderline cases of ownership. It compares the experience of pain with the experience of threats in their relation to the sense of bodily ownership. Theories of the sense of bodily ownership conceive of pain as being one route – among others – to the awareness of one's body as one's own. This conception assumes no difference between pain and other types of bodily experiences. The location of pain seems to be more constrained than the location of tactile sensations. Bodily care is a necessary condition for the motivational role of pain.