Critique of the modern-industrial medical institution based on the linguistic microsystem of Ivan Illich

Abstract

Ivan Illich created an own terminology related to health. More than simple words, this author allows a different look at the contemporary medical institution and its relation with the current modern-industrial model of society. With an original academic production, it redefines the medical vocabulary, transforming a series of ideological terms into categories capable of unraveling naturalized logics by the current power in today’s society. Its academic production contributes to providing public health with a different critical approach in addressing problems, from the social sciences. Aiming to contribute to the construction of a glossary of terms capable of producing and transmitting a more acute critical view of the modern-industrial medical institution, from the linguistic microsystem of Illich, this article analyzes, in a narrative way, terms created and redefined by the author in his work ‘Medical nemesis’. Finally, the article proposes some keys to public health thinking, from the perspective of the author.