Introduction

This chapter provides an introduction to the book. It begins by exploring our everyday understanding of the nature of pain. This theory is limited and raises puzzles in ways which are argued not to undermine references to pain for our everyday purposes. But there are other purposes for which we refer to pain, such that specialised theorising about pain occurs in a range of domains. Most importantly, our understanding of pain is important for the treatment of pain, bringing pain in science and medicine to the fore. The central claims of the book are introduced. In particular, the book argues that pain is real, but complex and idiosyncratic, such that it is (1) successfully and usefully referenced in everyday life but (2) not usefully referenced for scientific purposes; such that (3) the purposes of medical practice require using pain reports to identify non-pain targets for intervention. Background and motivation for each of these claims is provided, including a general discussion of when anything is usefully referenced for specialised scientific purposes and an initial overview of pain as currently referenced for both scientific and medical purposes. An overview of the remaining chapters is then provided.