[On the anthropological relevance of pain].

Medicine is increasingly being confronted with expectations that it provide more permanent and comprehensive freedom from pain - and the prospect of being pain free is partially even being held out by medical science itself. In our cultural context, there is now the established idea that pain is something that medical science and technology can - and must - "get rid of." This idea is particularly problematic when it comes to chronic pain. Furthermore, it obscures the fact that pain is a significant element of life and one that can have existential meaning. Therefore, it is crucial to reflect on the scope of this wish for medicine to relieve and eliminate pain.