HOMOEOPATHIC PHILOSOPHY AND MODERN MEDICINE


Homoeopathic Philosophy, of course, like any other branch of philosophy, deals with the general principles,. laws and theories that furnish the rational explanation of things that come within its scope. It is sometimes called the Science of Homoeopathics. It has its source and was first set forth in The Organon of Medicine, by Samuel Hahnemann, the originator and founder of the homoeopathic system of therapeutics.


Delivered Tuesday evening, March 16, 1926, in Philadelphia, by invitation of and before the entire student body of Hahnemannian Medical College, organized as the Hahnemannian an Institute.

The term, Homoeopathic Philosophy, is a comparatively new one in our school, and quite unknown in general medicine. The thing signified, in its elements, is as old as homoeopathy itself, and I may add, as old as philosophy itself but the name has been used in this connection only since 1891. In that year it was adopted as the title of the leading bureau of the International Hahnemannian Association.

This was (and is) a body of therapeutic specialists who stood for the development and maintenance of the distinctive specialists who stood for the development and maintenance of the distinctive principles and methods of homoeopathy as it was given to the world by Hahnemann. Their purpose was to redeem homoeopathy from the many corruptions and perversions which had crept into its practice, which, I am sorry to say,still exist.

It has been the subject of criticism by some, from the conventional standpoint of the scientist, that homoeopathy, as a scientific system of therapeutic medication, should not only itself bear a distinctive name, but be so closely bound up with the personality of an individual, even though he were its founder. The average scientific man rather plumes himself upon the “impersonal character of science,” sometimes forgetting that, as Kipling says, “Things never yet created things”.

Back of the thing there stands always-the Man. Back of the Great Pyramid stands the Pharaoh who conceived it, and with him the architect who planned it and the toiling thousands of artisans who quarried and raised, tier on tier,the masonry which composes the greatest monument of antiquity. Back of St.Pauls, in London, stands Sir Christopher Wren and back of Christianity, which- St.Paul did so much to formulate and organize, stands that supreme personality of all the ages, The Man of Galilee, whose name it took.

We need have no compunctions, therefore, about recognizing the inseparable connection of the man. Hahnemann, with homoeopathy. True scientists always delight to honor the names of men of genius and inspiration, upon whose unselfish labors every science is based. I am proud, as I trust you are, to stand tonight within the walls of an institution of learning which, of so long a period, has borne the name of the illustrious founder of homoeopathy.

Homoeopathic Philosophy, of course, like any other branch of philosophy, deals with the general principles,. laws and theories that furnish the rational explanation of things that come within its scope. It is sometimes called the Science of Homoeopathics. It has its source and was first set forth in The Organon of Medicine, by Samuel Hahnemann, the originator and founder of the homoeopathic system of therapeutics.

Although it was first published in 1810, the Organon remains to this day the fundamental textbook and highest authority of homoeopathy. It is the “Bible of homoeopathy,” but like the Bible of theology it must be restudied and reinterpreted by each generation, in the light of advancing knowledge and experience. Some things it which were clear to the men of 1810 are obscure o the men of 1926, unless they are scholars who are familiar with the history and progress of philosophy and science in all their epochs and phases.

To others, and abstruse nature of some of its subjects, its involved sentences (characteristically German in their construction), its erudite citations and allusions, its unfamiliar nomenclature, its archaic illustrations and, on provocation, its dogmatic or controversial tone, constitute a barrier difficult for some to surmount.

Having said the worst that can be said about the Organon let me add that, largely by virtue of these very peculiarities, as well as the vast importance to humanity of the general subject with which it deals, it becomes a “human document” of surpassing interest and charm. For the greater part it may be read understandingly by any person of average intelligence, even a laymen. The more obscure parts are for the scholar,the expert and the critic.

The manifest earnestness and sincerity of its author, the profundity and vast extent of his learning, his deep convictions, his courage in attacking long-established errors, his sympathy with the sufferings of humanity, his respect for natural law and his logical application of its principles, with his profound reverence for the Supreme Being and Law Giver, all taken together, constitute an appeal of great power to every serious mind.

For your encouragement let me tell you that when my old family physician (who thought he detected in me at eighteen years of age the signs of a budding medico) put into my hands his copy of the Organon and advised me to read it, I did so with the keenest zest. Reading it as I would any other book I found it intensely interesting, although (and perhaps because) my previous knowledge of medicine had been derived principally from “Ayers Almanac” and “Dr. Chases Family Receipt Book, when I was a boy on the old farm in Wisconsin.

Although I had previously given only casual thought to the idea of entering the medical profession, this reading of the Organon decided me. Its logic convinced me. Its possibilities captivated me. Shortly afterward I began to study medicine seriously under the preceptorship of my good old “discoverer.” You may be sure that he did not fail to drill me thoroughly in the teachings of the Organon. The identical old book, bearing his autograph on the fly leaf, has been one of the choicest treasures of my medical library for almost fifty years.

The day of secrecy in medicine is past.

Time was when the typical physician wrapped himself in a mantle of mystery, exclusiveness and silence, looked pompous and emulated the own. In speech he was oracular, in manner, dictatorial. He rarely condescended to explain his actions to his patients. But times have changed. Physicians have become almost human-some of them. They now take their patients into their confidence. They talk, they explain,they instruct, they “think out loud.” They give reasons for what they say and do. They seek the intelligent co-operation of their patients and impress upon them the necessity of working together. In other words, they have developed a new philosophy and adopted a new policy. It is recognized now that the physician has something to teach and explain, and the patient something to learn and do in order to get well and keep well.

It is the physicians business to learn the causes and conditions of the patients illness,and to teach and guide him in health, as well as treat him for his disease. His mistakes and misconceptions must be point out. His wrong habits and methods of living must be corrected. The patient must be roused to a sense of his own responsibility for his condition. His case is a problem-an individual problem-to be studied and solved intelligently and rationally. It must be made clear that, for him, it is the most interesting problem in the world, and that the physicians business is to help him solve it. The patient must do his part. The physician cannot do it all, and should not if he could. There must be co-operation between the physician and his patient,between the profession and the public, and this applies to the treatment as well as the prevention of disease.

Now, several things are involved in this new attitude of the physician toward the public, some of which apply to the patient and some to the physicians himself. the first and most important thing is that the physician shall have full knowledge of what is true and reliable in medicine,and especially in therapeutics, in order that he may have something worthy of explanation. In one word, he should have a true philosophy. for there are philosophies that are not true-“Science falsely so- called,” as St.Paul expressed it. Medicine is full of it.

The general aim or purpose of the physician, of course, is to create and develop an intelligent and loyal following in the field which he has chosen for his life work. The field of Health, in which he is the natural leader, is not only a large, but a very important one; for success in any department of the worlds activities depends very largely-one might say primarily- upon good health. He should, know, therefore, the true basis of health, and how to restore it when lost. In other worse, he should be a master of the science and art of therapeutics. It follows, without argument, that he should be a homoeopathician, since in homoeopathy we have a consistent body of truth.

“Mens sana in corpore sano,” a sound mind in a sound body, is generally recognized as the prime requisite for success in any vocation. But to attain that ideal condition,. or even a fair approximation to it is sometimes, for the average man, lay or professional, a very difficult task; for, unfortunately, we all come into this world hampered more or less by inherited organic weaknesses, defects and disproportions.

Stuart Close
Stuart M. Close (1860-1929)
Dr. Close was born November 24, 1860 and came to study homeopathy after the death of his father in 1879. His mother remarried a homoeopathic physician who turned Close's interests from law to medicine.

His stepfather helped him study the Organon and he attended medical school in California for two years. Finishing his studies at New York Homeopathic College he graduated in 1885. Completing his homeopathic education. Close preceptored with B. Fincke and P. P. Wells.

Setting up practice in Brooklyn, Dr. Close went on to found the Brooklyn Homoeopathic Union in 1897. This group devoted itself to the study of pure Hahnemannian homeopathy.

In 1905 Dr. Close was elected president of the International Hahnemannian Association. He was also the editor of the Department of Homeopathic Philosophy for the Homeopathic Recorder. Dr. Close taught homeopathic philosophy at New York Homeopathic Medical College from 1909-1913.

Dr. Close's lectures at New York Homeopathic were first published in the Homeopathic Recorder and later formed the basis for his masterpiece on homeopathic philosophy, The Genius of Homeopathy.

Dr. Close passed away on June 26, 1929 after a full and productive career in homeopathy.