In §6, Hahnemann emphasizes that a true physician must be unprejudiced. This means the doctor should not rely on theories, assumptions, or personal beliefs, but must observe the actual signs and symptoms shown by the patient — physically and mentally. According to him, the only reliable way to understand a disease is through the visible changes in the patient’s state of health — like mood, behavior, thoughts, desires, and aversions — not by imagining what’s wrong inside the organs.
He criticizes the old practice of focusing on organs and pathology, saying it leads to confusion. For example, trying to decide whether the liver affects the stomach or vice versa is useless. Disease begins in the vital force (the life energy) and later shows up as symptoms. These changes in “state” — like being forgetful, irritable, sad, awkward, or confused — are the real indicators of disease, not the tissue damage.
The doctor must collect all this information carefully from the patient, the people around them (like family), and their own observations — like expressions, movements, speech, or unusual behavior. Even if tissue damage (like tumors, abscesses, or lung cavities) is visible later, it’s just the result of the original internal disorder. Hahnemann says that even if a person had received the correct remedy earlier, these severe outcomes could have been avoided. He also strongly warns against using routine methods like prescribing based on pathology, organ exams, or modern diagnostic tools before understanding the patient’s individual symptoms and inner state. He believes that true cure always begins from within (vital order) and flows outward, restoring the body’s normal function. If only symptoms are removed without curing the internal disorder, the illness will return or worsen over time. Hahnemann also clarifies that studying pathology (tissue damage) is helpful, but only to understand the stage or seriousness of the disease, not for prescribing remedies. Modern methods like post-mortems or physical diagnosis help identify if a case is incurable or needs palliation, but they don’t help find the correct remedy. Prescriptions must be based on the early symptoms and inner disorder, not just the physical damage. In short, §6 teaches that disease is not something in the organs or tissues, but a disturbance in the inner state (vital force). The only way to truly understand and cure is to observe the totality of symptoms and treat the person, not the organ. The cure must go from cause to effect — from the inside out — and not the other way around.