Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited Free One-Day Delivery. Already a member? Sign in.

Quantity:

More Buying Choices

35 used & new from �5.27

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World (Paperback)

by Elaine Scarry (Author) "NOWHERE is the sadistic potential of a language built on agency so visible as in torture ..." (more)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

RRP:	�11.99
Price:	�8.39 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save:	�3.60 (30%)
	o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 2 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want guaranteed delivery by Tuesday, July 21? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details

23 new from �5.63 12 used from �5.27

Other Editions:	RRP:	Our Price:	Other Offers:
Hardcover			5 used & new from �13.00

Frequently Bought Together

Price For All Three: �21.37

Show availability and shipping details

This item: The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World by Elaine Scarry
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors: AND AIDS and Its Metaphors (Penguin Modern Classics) by Susan Sontag
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Regarding the Pain of Others

by Susan Sontag

3.5 out of 5 stars (2) �5.99

On Beauty and Being Just

by Elaine Scarry

�5.99

Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors: AND AIDS and Its Metaphors (Penguin Modern Classics)

by Susan Sontag

�6.99

The Culture of Pain

by D B Morris

5.0 out of 5 stars (1) �17.05

The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness and Ethics

by AW Frank

�12.35

› Explore similar items

Product details

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks; New edition edition (28 Jan 1988)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0195049969
ISBN-13: 978-0195049961
Product Dimensions: 18.6 x 13.8 x 2.2 cm

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 44,474 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories:
#35 in Books > Health, Family & Lifestyle > Psychology & Psychiatry > History & Philosophy > Philosophy of Mind
#37 in Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Philosophy > Topics > Metaphysics

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

(What is this?)

Body Pain

www.Ask.com Find the Best Results for Body Pain.

Product Description

Product Description
Part philosophical meditation, part cultural critique, this profoundly original work explores the nature of physical suffering. Elaine Scarry bases her study on a wide range of sources: literature and art, medical case histories, documents on torture compiled by Amnesty International, legal transcripts of personal injury trials, and military and strategic writings by such figures as Clausewitz, Churchill, Liddell Hart, and Henry Kissinger. Scarry begins with the fact of pain's inexpressibility. Not only is physical pain difficult to describe in words, it also actively destroys language, reducing sufferers in the most extreme cases to an inarticulate state of cries and moans. Scarry goes on to analyse the political ramifications of deliberately inflicted pain, specifically in the cases of warfare and torture, and she demonstrates how political regimes use the power of physical pain to attack and break down the sufferer's sense of self. Finally she turns to examples of artistic and cultural activity; actions achieved in the face of pain and difficulty.

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
NOWHERE is the sadistic potential of a language built on agency so visible as in torture. Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

literary criticism

thought

theory

philosophy

metaphysics

humanism

creation

consciousness

trauma

religion and spirituality

pain

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	82% buy the item featured on this page: The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World 5.0 out of 5 stars (1) �8.39
	7% buy Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors: AND AIDS and Its Metaphors (Penguin Modern Classics) �6.99
	5% buy Regarding the Pain of Others 3.5 out of 5 stars (2) �5.99
	3% buy The Challenge of Pain (Penguin Science) 5.0 out of 5 stars (1) �11.04

Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

1 Review

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Book on the Question: "Why do we create?", 31 Oct 1998

By A Customer

Few works of contemporary philosophy are so underrated (not to mention mis-shelved) as this sweeping study of the relationship between human pain and human creation. I frequently recommend the book to people who have been intimidated by "phenomenology", and who need to return to the roots of this term: the study of raw sense perceptions.

To Scarry, pain not only feels negative but actually IS negation. Pain erases all other perceptions of the world, and it also kills language -- the root our ability to reach out to others and build a world together.

The book begins by considering the obvious fact that "intense pain is indescribable," then moves outward into the political consequences of this inexpressibility. Pain survives in the culture, and can be used as a political tool, precisely because of its muteness. This first half of the book, entitled "Unmaking", corresponds well to Dante's Inferno. Through a study of torture and (less helpfully) war, Scarry details the process by which the human ability to create, and thus to be, is destroyed for political purposes.

The book's second part, corresponding to Dante's Purgatorio, describes how humans move out of pain by creating the world of made objects. The reading of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures that begins this section deserves much wider attention. Scarry reads these texts as an archetypical story of how pain led to creation. Scarry presents this story with a warm, generous, jargon-free style that is welcoming to the intelligent layman.

Parts of this book are, perhaps, more dated than others. The latter sections in each of the two halves (the first on war, the latter on the texts of Marx) seem to step down from the pinnacles of each half's beginning. The reader can be forgiven for setting down the book at the end of the section on the scriptures, feeling that Scarry's powerful effect is complete.

In a world where contemporary philosophy and theory are too easily hijacked by political trends, Scarry's book is a welcome reminder that we are all bodies, and that beneath our divisions of race, class, and gender, we all share a pain that drives us to create our world.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; }

Customer Discussions

Beta (What's this?)

This product's forum (0 discussions)

	Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
	No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Prompts for sign-in

[Cancel]

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

	Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
	politics Can anybody recommend a book on Thatcher's impact on Britain's international standing?	5	14 days ago

Related forums

politics (2 discussions)

Listmania!

The best books I've read: A list by Melquiades
Live Life with a Little Lift: A list by "uni_brow"
SOAS recommended books on Africa: A list by "soasjoe"

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.

Fun for Everyone

Achieve over 15,000 RPM with our great range of Powerballs.

›Shop the Powerball store

More From Elaine Scarry

On Beauty and Being Just

"'Thank you to Elaine Scarry for her wonderful essay On Beauty and... Read more
£7.99 £5.99

We've Got Converse

Stock up on your favourite styles with great deals on Converse shoes.

›Shop Converse

Treat Someone

With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

Where's My Stuff?

track your recent orders
view or change your orders in Your Account

Delivery and Returns

see our delivery rates and policies
thinking of returning an item? (See our Returns Policy)

Need Help?

Forgot your password?
Buy Gift Certificates.
still have questions? Visit our Help Pages

Your Recent History

(What's this?)

You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

4.5 out of 5 stars (77)�3.86

Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga) by Stephenie Meyer

4.1 out of 5 stars (470)�6.49

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

4.1 out of 5 stars (172)�3.99

New Moon (Twilight Saga) by Stephenie Meyer

4.2 out of 5 stars (229)�3.49


Amazon Home

International Sites: United States \| Germany \| France \| Japan \| Canada \| China

Business Programs: Sell on Amazon \| Fulfilment by Amazon \| Join Associates \| Join Advantage

Customer Service \| Help \| View Basket \| Your Account

About Amazon.co.uk \| Careers at Amazon


Amazon Home

International Sites: United States \| Germany \| France \| Japan \| Canada \| China

Business Programs: Sell on Amazon \| Fulfilment by Amazon \| Join Associates \| Join Advantage

Customer Service \| Help \| View Basket \| Your Account

About Amazon.co.uk \| Careers at Amazon