BACKGROUND This article aims to contribute to a better conceptualization of pain and suffering by providing non-essential and non-naturalistic definitions of both phenomena. Contributions of classical evidence-based medicine, the humanistic turn in medicine, as well as the phenomenology and narrative theories of suffering and pain, together with certain conceptions of the person beyond them (the mind-body dichotomy, Cassel's idea of persons as "intact beings") are critically discussed with such purpose. METHODS A philosophical methodology is used, based on the review of existent literature on the topic and the argumentation in favor of what are found as better definitions of suffering and pain. RESULTS Pain can be described in neurological terms but cognitive awareness, interpretation, behavioral dispositions, as well as cultural and educational factors have a decisive influence on pain perception. Suffering is proposed to be defined as an unpleasant or even anguishing experience, severely affecting a person at a psychophysical and existential level. Pain and suffering are considered unpleasant. However, the provided definitions neither include the idea that pain and suffering can attack and even destroy the self nor the idea that they can constructively expand the self; both perspectives can b e equally useful for managing pain and suffering, but they are not defining features of the same. Including the existential dimension in the definition of suffering highlights the relevance of suffering in life and its effect on one's own attachment to the world (including personal management, or the cultural and social influences which shape it). An understanding of pain and suffering life experiences is proposed, meaning that they are considered aspects of a person's life, and the self is the ever-changing sum of these (and other) experiences. CONCLUSIONS The provided definitions will be useful to the identification of pain and suffering, to the discussion of how to relieve them, and to a better understanding of how they are expressed and experienced. They lay the groundwork for further research in all these areas, with the twofold aim of a) avoiding epistemological mistakes and moral injustices, and b) highlighting the limitations of medicine in the treatment of suffering and pain.

中文翻译：

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概念化痛苦和痛苦。

背景技术本文旨在通过提供两种现象的非本质和非自然定义，为更好地概念化疼痛和痛苦做出贡献。古典循证医学的贡献，医学的人文主义转向以及痛苦和痛苦的现象学和叙事理论，以及超越他们的某些人的观念（心身二分法，卡塞尔的人“完好无损”的观念）为此目的进行了严格的讨论。方法基于对有关该主题的现有文献的评论以及支持对痛苦和痛苦的更好定义的论点，使用了一种哲学方法论。结果疼痛可以用神经学术语来描述，但是认知意识，解释，行为倾向，以及文化和教育因素对疼痛的感知具有决定性的影响。提议将痛苦定义为令人不快甚至痛苦的经历，在心理和生存层面严重影响一个人。疼痛和痛苦被认为是不愉快的。但是，所提供的定义既不包括痛苦和苦难可以攻击甚至破坏自我的观念，也不包括可以建设性地扩展自我的观念。两种观点对于管理痛苦和苦难都同样有用，但是它们并没有定义相同的特征。将痛苦的存在维度包括在痛苦的定义中，凸显了痛苦在生活中的相关性及其对一个人对世界的依恋的影响（包括个人管理或塑造痛苦的文化和社会影响）。提出了对痛苦和痛苦的生活经历的理解，这意味着它们被视为一个人生活的方方面面，而自我是这些（和其他）经历的不断变化的总和。结论所提供的定义将有助于识别疼痛和痛苦，讨论如何减轻疼痛和更好地理解它们的表达和体验方式。他们为所有这些领域的进一步研究奠定了基础，其双重目的是：a）避免认识论上的错误和道德上的不公正，以及b）突出医学在治疗痛苦和疼痛方面的局限性。结论所提供的定义将有助于识别疼痛和痛苦，讨论如何减轻疼痛和更好地理解它们的表达和体验方式。他们为所有这些领域的进一步研究奠定了基础，其双重目的是：a）避免认识论上的错误和道德上的不公正，以及b）突出医学在治疗痛苦和疼痛方面的局限性。结论所提供的定义将有助于识别疼痛和痛苦，讨论如何减轻疼痛和更好地理解它们的表达和体验方式。他们为所有这些领域的进一步研究奠定了基础，其双重目的是：a）避免认识论上的错误和道德上的不公正，以及b）突出医学在治疗痛苦和疼痛方面的局限性。