Medical Critical Theory

Domonkos Sik is Professor of Sociology at Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary, the alumnus of CEU-IAS and member of Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization network. He has published widely on critical theory, phenomenology, and the sociology of mental health, including Radicalism and Indifference (2016), Empty Suffering: A Social Phenomenology of Depression, Anxiety and Addiction (2021), and Salvaging Modernity: A Social Contract for the Era of Permacrisis (2025). His work bridges continental philosophy and empirical research, with a focus on emancipatory approaches to mental health and illness.

“Medical Critical Theory is a bold and timely work that bridges critical theory and phenomenology to illuminate how social structures shape experiences of illness. The book offers a compelling synthesis that grounds theory in lived experience across conditions such as depression, psychosis, and chronic disease. It not only redefines social pathology but also points toward new forms of solidarity and sustainable activism. An important and thought-provoking contribution to the medical humanities and critical phenomenology.” (Kevin Aho, Professor of Philosophy, Florida Gulf Coast University, USA)“Articulate and timely, Domonkos Sik’s latest work, Medical Critical Theory, is a must read for social and political theorists. By advancing a thicker account of social pathology—moving beyond individualised phenomenology—Sik offers an excellent foundation for revitalising a critical theory that speaks to practitioners, activists, and academics alike.” (Neal Harris, Associate Professor in Sociology and Politics, Oxford Brookes University, UK)“Today, there’s growing recognition that phenomenology of illness ultimately needs to understand disorders not only at the level of the individual, but in their broader sociocultural contexts. In Medical Critical Theory, Sik supplements recent work in phenomenology of illness with the social phenomenology of critical theory. Integrating these traditions, he develops a new concept of “social pathology” that helps us better understand the role of medical institutions in not only treating, but also producing, these pathologies. The book will doubtless of interest to researchers working on illness and medicine from across the humanities and social sciences.” (Anthony Vincent Fernandez, Associate Professor of Applied Philosophy and Theoretical Psychology, University of Southern Denmark)

• Chapter 1: Introduction.- PART 1: Grounding the normative basis of medical critical theory.- Chapter 2: Illness experience and social suffering – synthesizing medical phenomenology and critical theory.- Chapter 3: Embodied social suffering and social pathology – grounding the normative basis of medical critical theory.- PART 2: Case studies of embodied social suffering.- Chapter 4: The medical consequences of hostile intersubjectivities.- Chapter 5: The medical consequences of instrumentalizing intersubjectivities.- Chapter 6: The medical consequences of latently disruptive intersubjectivities.- PART 3: From medical critical theory to demedicalizing-emancipatory praxis.- Chapter 7: Mobilizing the ill – the epistemic, motivational and strategic challenges of demedicalizing-emancipatory praxis.- Chapter 8: Critique and consolation – countering ‘activist fatigue’ in a non-therapeutic way.- Chapter 9: Beyond the fetishism of control – towards a Stoic ethics of demedicalizing-emancipatory praxis.