In this section, Hahnemann emphasizes that a good physician must be able to discriminate between conditions that need medical treatment and those that require non-medicinal or surgical intervention. For example, if a patient has a broken bone or needs a tooth removed, they need a surgeon, not a homoeopath. Similarly, if someone is living in a damp house, eating unhealthy food, or has bad habits, these external causes must be removed first. Giving medicine while ignoring such obvious issues is foolish and shows poor judgment.
Hahnemann stresses that physicians often treat only the outer problems (the “house” the man lives in), like ulcers and wounds, but forget the inner man – the vital force. True disease symptoms arise from within, and medicines should be used only when the internal disturbance is the cause.
He also explains the importance of understanding a patient’s lifestyle, emotions, constitution, and habits, especially in chronic cases. These factors help the physician find the real cause of the disease, which often lies in chronic miasms – particularly psora, syphilis, and sycosis. Hahnemann says that acute diseases (like measles or smallpox) often appear only when a person is already weakened by a chronic miasm. Without these chronic weaknesses, the body wouldn’t be susceptible to acute diseases at all.
He clarifies that psora is not just a skin itch, as wrongly understood by modern doctors. It represents a deep internal disorder, starting from a man’s thoughts and beliefs, which leads to disorder in the body. Psora is the foundation of all chronic diseases.
Furthermore, Hahnemann strongly rejects the germ theory. He argues that bacteria are not the cause of disease but come after the disease has already developed – like scavengers cleaning up a mess. Destroying bacteria won’t cure a disease because the real cause lies in the disturbed internal state of the patient.
Finally, Hahnemann encourages physicians to follow natural laws and principles, not guesswork or superficial symptoms. He believes medicine must be based on true cause and effect, from within to without, and that healing begins when order is restored in the mind, body, and life of the patient.