This is the first paper published in Italy on the sociology of the body of David le Breton. This French author criticizes the devaluation of the body carried out by the (gnostic and cartesian) dualism and by those who consider the body like a sketch to be corrected or even erased in its whole because of its imperfection. In
particular, the essay focuses on the relationship between identity and pain. Pain is a “self-tear” breaking the obviousness of the relationship to the world. It lies at the intersection of body, society, culture and involves moral suffering. If a plurality of sufferings does exist, it is first because of the plurality of pains: self
pain, inflicted pain, pain as a boundary of identity, pain as a boundary of senses, pain as a sustain of ecstasy.