Homoeopathy, unlike the old school of medicine (Allopathy), is based on fixed principles and natural laws. Before Hahnemann, medicine relied heavily on mere experience and opinions without any solid foundation, and even today, conventional medicine accepts that no true principles guide its practice. Allopathy deals only with the visible effects of disease—changes in tissues and organs—considering them as the disease itself, while ignoring the real internal cause. Homoeopathy, however, asserts that every effect must have a cause, and that disease originates from a deeper disturbance within the human being. This leads us to the understanding that the person who is sick is not merely the body, but the whole individual—the internal man consisting of will and understanding.
The first paragraph of the Organon states, “The physician’s high and only mission is to restore the sick to health,” which is simple at first glance, but its deeper meaning is that the whole person is sick—not just isolated parts. Hahnemann rejected the idea of treating mere symptoms or giving importance to diagnostic names alone. A person may have numerous complaints and yet show no signs of pathology under modern instruments, but this does not mean they are not sick. Homoeopathy recognizes this stage—the pre-pathological disturbance—as the real beginning of disease. The vital force or life principle, which animates the body, is disturbed first. Then, if left untreated, disease manifests outwardly in tissues and organs. Therefore, removing diseased parts or suppressing visible symptoms does not cure the person; rather, it may worsen the internal state.
True Homoeopathic healing involves understanding the sick individual as a whole—body and mind. Every part of the body reflects the internal man. For example, a person’s face may reveal the nature of their mind—good or evil affections are often visible in expressions. Hence, the internal man governs the body, and disease begins with disturbances in his mental and emotional spheres. The will and understanding make up the very life of a person. When these are in harmony, the person is healthy. But when disorder arises here, disease begins. The physical body, including all its organs, is just the house in which the real man lives. After death, the body remains behind, while the true self—the source of thoughts, emotions, and life—departs.
Allopathy fails to recognize this and treats only the visible effects, often leading to suppression or surgical removal of diseased organs. But Homoeopathy sees symptoms as nature’s language, helping us understand the internal state. Even bacteria, which are now blamed as causes of disease, are actually the results of disease processes. They are harmless in themselves and appear only as part of the disease’s natural course. Hahnemann warned against forming speculative theories about invisible causes of disease; instead, he taught that the physician’s duty is to carefully observe symptoms and match them with drug symptoms obtained through provings on healthy individuals.
Naming a disease often confuses rather than helps, because the same fundamental sickness may appear in different forms in different individuals. A person might develop liver disease, another may get lung disease, but both share the same underlying miasmatic disturbance. Thus, the same remedy may apply across family members showing different clinical forms but arising from the same root cause. Homoeopathy focuses not on naming diseases or external causes like food or environment, but on understanding the individual’s unique expression of sickness—mental, emotional, and physical symptoms taken together as the totality. This totality is matched with a remedy that produces similar symptoms in healthy individuals—this is the basis of the law of similars.
Furthermore, the mind is the highest expression of the individual. Every well-proven remedy in Homoeopathy affects the mind first—emotions, thoughts, memory—before causing physical symptoms. For instance, Aurum affects the will to live and may lead to suicidal tendencies, while Argentum disturbs understanding and memory. This shows that disease, like cure, proceeds from within outward. Therefore, the most important symptoms in any case are the mental and emotional ones, followed by functional and physical symptoms. The true nature of sickness is revealed only through the totality of these expressions, and it is only through careful study of the Materia Medica and individualization that a homoeopath can bring about true cure.
In conclusion, the physician must shift from treating disease names and external appearances to understanding the inner man—the disturbed will and understanding. True cure begins from this level, and not from the surface changes seen in tissues. The totality of symptoms is the only true guide to the remedy, and restoring order in the internal economy leads to harmony in the entire being. Homoeopathy stands unique in this approach, offering a rational, law-governed, and humane method of healing.