Dr David Bain
Reader in Philosophy
David.Bain@glasgow.ac.uk
https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/humanities/staff/davidbain/
David Bain is Reader in Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. He was Principal Investigator of the Pain Project (2012-13) and the Value of Suffering project (2013-16). His interests lie mainly in philosophy of mind and concern pain, the nature of pleasure and unpleasure, and perception. He has published on pain, affect, colour, and Wittgenstein’s private language argument, and he has co-edited two collections, The Philosophy of Pain (Routledge 2018) and The Philosophy of Suffering (Routledge 2019). His current work concerns the relationship between pain and intentional action. For more about his research, go to www.davidbain.org.
Research and Teaching Interests
A philosopher with a particular interest in interoceptive perception (by which each of is aware of his or her own body “from the inside”), I have focused in recent research on physical pain and, more generally, affective experiences (experiences that feel pleasant or unpleasant, good or bad). I am especially interested in the relationship between physical pain and four fundamental themes: consciousness, rationality, normativity, and representation. Unpleasantness and pleasure—their moral, rational, and motivational significance—interest me in other cases too, e.g. smell, taste, touch, and our emotional lives.