ABSTRACT
To analyse the word ‘illness’ is to explore the role’of the doctor in modern medicine. It is to discover that medical practice is above all a political enterprise, one in which judgements about the proper order and governance of society are made. The notion of possession has, however, retained some of its vitality. The old idea that particular states were caused by devils or demons possessing the sufferer fell before the onslaught of scientific medicine. But scientific medicine has not abandoned the notion of possession. Indeed, it is as strong as ever. What has changed is the identification of the possessing force. Demons become germs, spirits become diseases. Educating ourselves in the language of medicine is the first step. Our next step is to look at the way modern medicine has developed – and examine how in many respects it has taken the wrong road.
