"For a sensation to be felt as pain is for it to be pain"

In this quote, theorist Saul Kripke is going over the idea of discomfort and how it is viewed. He argues that for something to be thought about discomfort, it should be experienced as such. Simply put, the experience itself is what specifies discomfort, instead of any external aspects or labels. This idea challenges the notion that pain is entirely a physical experience, as it suggests that the perception and analysis of the sensation is what genuinely makes it discomfort. Kripke's statement highlights the subjective nature of pain and how it is eventually a personal experience. It likewise raises concerns about the nature of perception and how it shapes our understanding of the world around us.