We develop a theory of the critical point of the ferromagnetic Ising model, whose basic objects are the ergodic (pure) states of the infinite system. It proves the existence of anomalous critical fluctuations, for dimension $ν=2$ and, under a standard assumption, for $ν=3$, for the model with nearest neighbor interaction, in a way which is consistent with the probabilistic approach of Cassandro, Jona-Lasinio and several others, reviewed in Jona-Lasinio's article in Phys. Rep. 352, 439 (2001). We propose to single out the state at the critical temperature $T_{c}$ among the ergodic thermal states associated to temperatures $0 \le T \le T_{c}$, by a condition of non-summable clustering of the connected two-point function. The analogous condition for the connected $(2r)-$ point functions for $r \ge 2$, together with a scaling hypothesis, proves that the (macroscopic) fluctuation state is quasi-free, also at the critical temperature, after a proper rescaling, also at the critical temperature, in agreement with a theorem by Cassandro and Jona-Lasinio, whose proof is, however, shown to be incomplete. Other subjects include topics related to universality, including spontaneous breaking of continuous symmetries and violations of universality in problems of energetic and dynamic stability.

57 pages, revised version with major changes, to appear in Physics Reports