Society and Culture
The nature or meaning of physical pain has been diversely understood by religious or secular traditions from antiquity to modern times.
Physical pain is an important political topic in relation to various issues, including pain management policy, drug control, animal rights or animal welfare, torture, and pain compliance. In various contexts, the deliberate infliction of pain in the form of corporal punishment is used as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable. In some cultures, extreme practices such as mortification of the flesh or painful rites of passage are highly regarded.
Philosophy of pain is a branch of philosophy of mind that deals essentially with physical pain, especially in connection with such views as dualism, identity theory, and functionalism.
More generally, it is often as a part of pain in the broad sense, i.e. suffering, that physical pain is dealt with in culture, religion, philosophy, or society.
Read more about this topic: Pain
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