This chapter explores the deeper understanding of disease, going beyond visible symptoms and structural changes. Stuart Close emphasizes that true disease starts in the internal, immaterial, governing force of the body, often called the vital force. Changes in tissues — such as pus, degeneration, or organ damage — are not the disease itself but results of a deeper inner disorder.
In health, the body works in perfect harmony, and tissue functions normally. But when that inner harmony is disturbed, the resulting disorder eventually shows up as physical symptoms. The true physician, according to Hahnemann, should not focus on these end results (like tumors or pus) but must look for the first signs of disorder, which are expressed through symptoms — not through microscopes or autopsies.
Hahnemann’s §4 of the Organon is quoted here:
“The physician is likewise a preserver of health if he knows the things that derange health and cause disease and how to remove them from persons in health.”
This means the doctor should understand what causes disease, and that these causes are often invisible — not physical things like tumors, but disturbances to the vital force, often triggered by internal or energetic causes (e.g., miasms). Cutting off a tumor doesn’t cure the disease — it only removes a result of disease.
The things that keep up disease — like poor hygiene, unhealthy food, or bad living conditions — are external aggravating factors, not the disease itself. The true cause of disease lies inside, at the level of the vital force.
Hahnemann also says in §5 that it’s useful to understand the probable exciting cause of a disease. For example, the entry of a miasm (like psora, syphilis, or sycosis) starts at the innermost level and takes time before symptoms appear. This early, invisible stage is called the prodromal period.
Every miasm has its own distinct expression — just as every medicine has its unique action. The homœopathic physician must be trained to recognize disease patterns and match them with the correct drug. This demands accurate observation of symptoms, not opinions or vague experiences.
To truly heal, the doctor must have a clear mental image of disease, based on many carefully observed cases. Only then can they match it to the symptom image of the right medicine in the Materia Medica. Every disease pattern found in humans has its similar image in nature — in the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom.
Unfortunately, modern medical books focus too much on pathology and heredity, neglecting the detailed symptom pictures. Older physicians like Watson and Chambers used to describe the patient’s appearance and experience at the bedside — something far more useful to the homœopath than modern tests and scans.
Today, conventional doctors may dismiss a patient’s complaints, calling them “nervous” or “hysterical” without truly listening. This attitude arises from an overdependence on lab results and visible findings — ignoring what cannot be seen or measured.
The homœopathic physician must be a true observer of the sick, giving time and attention to understand the totality of symptoms, because these reflect the inner disordered state. Even if a disease later settles in the lungs or heart, the remedy should be based on the full symptom picture, not the location of pathology.