Within the semantic field of the different modes of experiencing harm or ill-being, pain refers first of all to the sensation felt by the injured, sick, or unsound body (Suffering, Sickness and healing), but then also, and especially in poetic language, to the experiencing of separation, mourning and grief, and compassion (Welt-Schmerz [v. Hartmann]).
I. The history of pain research since J. Müller (Handbuch der Physiologie des Menschen, vol. II, 1840; cf. N. Grahek, “Schmerz III. Naturwissenschaft und Medizin,” HWP VIII, 1323–1330) has shown that pain repre…