El lenguaje médico, algo más que información. De cómo los lingüistas y los médicos pueden entenderse

Laburpena

The fact that language is comprised of an important power component brings us, of necessity, to reflect upon the ethical dimensions of the tasks involved in each and every verbal act we engage in. Specialists in any field should be aware of how language works in many ways that directly affect them, of how the choice of elements and their combination—regardless of how mechanized they may be—should be geared toward crafting a message that does not mislead the interlocutor. This article puts forth ideas on certain tasks that are not performed naively, on domains in which words, besides conveying a message, have two types of power: the power of action and the power of insinuation. An entire universe of explicit and implicit events comes into play whenever someone decides to act by making use of language. It’s a world of intentions and expectations, of collaboration and commitments, which a physician cannot ignore.