Thus wrote Hahnemann
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1999 Nov / Dec VOL VIII NO 6.
Compiled By:
T K Kasiviswanathan

This last issue of the current millennium of NJH is correctly devoted to the basic philosophy of Homoeopathy. Many stalwart Homoeopaths used to say that they made it a constant practice of reading Hahnemann's Organon frequently so that they practice that art as laid down by the Master.

Aphorisms 1 and 2 of the Organon summarize the whole philosophy of Homoeopathy. All the subsequent aphorisms are mainly elaboration of this essence. In this article, an attempt has been made to put in juxtaposition other relevant Aphorisms, which give further explanations and clarifications. In someplace the relative aphorisms are quoted verbatim, while in other places paraphrased.) The extracts are based on Dr William Boericke's translation of Organon.

Aphorism 1:
Aphorism 1 says: "the physician's high and only mission is to restore the sick to health, to cure, as it is called." Hahnemann recognized that the medical profession is a noble one and has to be practiced with a missionary zeal. This highest mission is to restore the health of the sick.

Hahnemann elaborates further in the footnote: the doctor's mission is "not to construct so called systems by interweaving empty speculations and hypotheses concerning the internal essential nature of the vital processes and the mode in which the disease originates in the invisible interior of the organism, nor give countless explanations regarding the phenomena of diseases and their causes. Of such learned reveries we have had enough. It is high time that all who call themselves physicians should cease to deceive suffering mankind with mere talk and begin now instead, for once to act, that is really to help and cure." (Italics ours)

What is Health and Sickness?
Hahnemann says in Aphorism 9, that "in the healthy condition of man, the spiritual vital force, the dynamis that animates the organism rules with unbounded sway and retains all the parts of the organism in admirable, harmonious, vital operation, as regards both sensations and functions, so that our indwelling, reason gifted mind can freely employ this living healthy instrument for the higher purposes of our existence." " The material organism, without the vital force is capable of no sensation, no function, no self -preservation and derives all sensations and performs all the functions of life solely by this vital principle which animates the organism both in health and in disease " (Aph 10).

Consequently "when a person falls ill, it is only the spiritual, self acting vital force, everywhere present in his organism, that is primarily deranged by the dynamic influence upon it of a morbific agent inimical to life. It is only the vital principle, deranged to such an abnormal state that can furnish the organism with its disagreeable sensations and incline it to those irregular processes, which we call disease" (Aph 11). The morbific noxious agents do not possess the power to produce disease unconditionally, but we are made ill by them only when our organism is sufficiently disposed and made susceptible to their attack. (Aph 31)

It is here that Homoeopathy differs fundamentally from allopathy. While allopathy classifies diseases according to the organs affected and treats them accordingly, Homoeopathy considers that it is the individual who is sick. That is why Hahnemann uses the adjective "sick" in Aph 1. He says forcefully in Aph 13 "Therefore, Disease considered as it is by the allopathists, as a thing separate from the living whole, is an absurdity." "The physician notices only the deviations from the former healthy state of the now diseased individual, which are felt by the patient himself, remarked by those around him and observed by the physician. All these perceptible signs represent the disease in its whole extent; together they form the true and only conceivable portrait of the disease." (Aph 6)

What is Cure?
" As diseases are nothing more than alternations in the state of health of the healthy individual, which express themselves by morbid signs, cure is also only possible by a change to the healthy condition of the state of health of the diseased individual." (Aph19). " The physician has only to remove the whole of the symptoms in order, at the same time, to abrogate and annihilate the internal change, that is to say, the morbid derangement of the vital force, consequently the totality of the disease, the disease itself. When the disease is annihilated, health is restored and this is the highest, the sole aim of the physician." (Aph17). Through administration of a similar homoeopathic remedy, the natural disease is seized by a somewhat stronger, similar artificial disease and by that the feeling of the natural disease ceases and disappears. The vital force is now occupied and governed merely by the stronger artificial disease manifestation. The latter soon spends its force, leaving the patient free from disease and cured. (Aph 29)

Aphorism 2
"The highest ideal of cure is rapid, gentle and permanent restoration of the health, or removal and annihilation of the disease in its whole extent, in the shortest, more reliable and most harmless way, on easily comprehensible principles."

We should mark the adjectives used by Hahnemann in defining the characteristics of cure as rapid., gentle and permanent and the methods used should be the shortest , most reliable and in the most harmless way.

Easily Comprehensible Principles:

1. The totality of the symptoms of this outwardly reflected picture of the internal essence of the disease ie the affection of the vital force must be the principal, or the sole means, whereby the disease can make known what remedy it requires. (Aph 7 & 18)
   
   
2. As disease is a derangement of the vital force, all such morbid derangements cannot be removed from it in any other way than by the spirit like alternative powers of the serviceable medicines acting upon spirit-like vital force; it is only by their dynamic action on the vital force that remedies are able to re-establish health and vital harmony. (Aph 16)
   
   
3. When medicines act as remedies, they can only bring their curative property into play by means of their power of altering man's health by producing peculiar symptoms. This spirit-like power to alter man's state of health which lies hidden in the inner nature of medicines, can never be discovered except through experience of its disease -producing power and at the same time what disease-curing power each individual medicine possesses. (Aph 20 & 21)
   
   
4. For the totality of the symptoms of the disease to be cured, that medicine must be sought which will have the greatest tendency to produce on healthy individuals similar or opposite symptoms. (Aph 22).
   
   
5. All pure experience and research convince us that persistent symptoms of disease are far from being removed and annihilated by opposite symptoms of medicines given and on the contrary, after apparent relief or alleviation, the disease comes back with increased intensity and aggravation. (Aph 23 )
   
   
6. 1. Law Of Similars: "neither in the course of nature nor by the physician's art, can an existing affection or malady be removed by a dissimilar morbific agent, be it ever so strong, but solely by one that is similar in symptoms and is somewhat stronger, according to eternal and irrevocable laws of nature." (Aph 48)
      
      
   2. The sole therapeutic law of nature is: Cure by symptom similarity (Aph 50). " A weaker dynamic affection is permanently extinguished in the living organism by a stronger one, if the latter (whilst differing in kind) is very similar to the former in its manifestations (Aph 26)
      
      
   3. Under antipathic (allopathic) method the doctor gives, for a single troublesome symptom from among the many other symptoms of the disease, a medicine, which is known to produce the exact opposite of the morbid symptom. After short antipathic amelioration, aggravation follows in every case without exception. The ordinary physician imagines that he can get over the difficulty by giving at each renewed aggravation, a stronger dose of the remedy, whereby an equally transient suppression is effected. If this persists, administration of ever increasing doses of the palliative medicines, there ensues either another more serious and incurable disease or death itself, but never a cure of a chronic disease. (Aph 57-60)
      
      
   4. Dr Hahnemann substantiates his point by illustrating three different situations:
      1. If two dissimilar diseases meet together in the human being and should be of equal strength or still more if the older one be the stronger, the new disease will be repelled by the old one from the body and not allowed to affect it. So under this treatment the chronic disease remains uncured and unaltered. (Aph 36-37)
      2. If the new dissimilar disease is stronger, the old disease will be kept back and suspended by the stronger one, until the new disease runs its course or cured and then the old one reappears uncured. It is with all dissimilar diseases; the stronger suspends the weaker but they never cure one another (Aph 38)
      3. The third possibility is that the new disease joins the old one that is dissimilar and forms with it a complex disease and then each occupies a particular locality in the body or the organs peculiarly adapted to it. (Aph 40)
      
      
      
   5. Totally different is the result when two similar diseases meet together in the organism; they can neither repel each other nor suspend one another nor exist beside each other in the same organism or form a complex disease together. The stronger one annihilates the weaker one for the reason that the strong morbific power by reason of its similarity involves precisely the same parts of the organism as were affected by the weaker agent (Aph 45)
      
      
7. There are two categories of diseases:- acute:-these are rapid morbid processes of the abnormally deranged vital force, which have a tendency to finish their course more or less quickly: chronic :in these diseases the vital force only opposes them at the commencement and during their progress, imperfect, unsuitable and useless resistance and is unable to extinguish them , but must helplessly suffer until at the end the organism is destroyed. They are caused by dynamic infection of a chronic miasm. (Aph 72)
   
   
8. Causes of acute diseases: injurious influences, such as excess of food intake, or insufficient intake, chills, overheating, mental emotions etc- they are generally a transient explosion of latent psora; or epidemics or contagious infections, which have an identical origin, and set up identical morbid process which when left alone terminates in death or recovery in a shortest time. (Aph 73)
   
   

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