University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2012 Hippocratic Pain Sarah E. Scullin University of Pennsylvania,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Classical Literature and Philology Commons, and the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons Recommended Citation Scullin, Sarah E., "Hippocratic Pain" (2012). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 578. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/578 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/578 For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Hippocratic Pain Abstract This dissertation assesses the manifold functions of pain in the practice of Hippocratic medicine and examines the interpenetration of pain and Hippocratic theories of the body. Chapter One contrasts the Hippocratic view of pain with the modern understanding of the phenomenon. While the experience of pain is actually subjective and need not necessarily be associated with a physical cause, Hippocratic authors conceived of pain as an objective phenomenon that was always caused by material change. The following three chapters of this project explore the consequences of this relationship between pain and material. Chapter Two argues that, owing to its connection with material change, Hippocratic pain gains special semiotic currency: hence, pain is often the crucial or only sign of disease. As a symptom, pain is used to classify and identify diseases, predict the course or outcome of a disease, determine the type and application of treatment, and prove important theories, such as the theory of humors. Chapter Three argues that the strategies whereby the physician perceives the patient's pain rely on - or at least reveal a belief in - the objectivity of pain experience and expression.