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The structure of the Organon

Article in Homeopathy · August 2004

DOI: 10.1016/j.homp.2004.04.003 · Source: PubMed

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Menachem Oberbaum
Shaare Zedek Medical Center
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 Homeopathy (2004) 93, 151–153
r 2004 The Faculty of Homeopathy
doi:10.1016/j.homp.2004.04.003, available online at www.sciencedirect.com

EDUCATION AND DEBATE

The structure of the Organon

SR Singer* and M Oberbaum

The Center for Integrative Complementary Medicine, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel

The Organon of Medicine is the seminal text of Homeopathy. However, its grammar
and structure make it obtuse and remote to both new students and veterans. We
propose a demarcation of the Organon into sections, exposing the didactic structure of
the Organon, and display this demarcation in concise graphic form. It is hoped that this
representation will improve accessibility and understanding of the Organon for readers
at all levels. Homeopathy (2004) 93, 151–153.

Keywords: structure; Organon; Hahnemann

Introduction O’Reilly’s recent excellent translation3 includes a

The Organon of Medicine is the seminal text of
Homeopathy. Written by Samuel Hahnemann over
200 years ago,1 the Organon has provided the
philosophical and practical basis for homeopathy ever
since.
In spite of its centrality to homeopathic practice, the
Organon remains difficult, obtuse and remote to both
the neophyte and experienced practitioner. At the level
of the individual aphorism, this is due largely to the
cumbersome German sentence structure. At the level
of the Organon as a whole, this stems in our view from
a lack of understanding of the overall structure of the
document.
The Organon is composed of a preface, an introduc-
tion, and 291 numbered paragraphs, termed aphor-
isms. Lacking are a table of contents and chapter
headings. Hahnemann provided a synopsis of the
Organon including a list of the 291 aphorisms in
abbreviated form.2 Unfortunately, this did little to
elucidate the document’s structure. This ‘string of
pearls’ presentation, generally maintained by subse-
quent translations, has tended to obscure the highly
structured argument inherent in Hahnemann’s treatise.
*Correspondence: Shepherd Roee Singer, The Center for
Integrative Complementary Medicine, Shaare Zedek Medical
Center, Jerusalem, Israel.
E-mail: singer2@barak-online.net
Received 17 November 2003; revised 2 March 2004; accepted
5 April 2004
table of contents that offers a grouping of aphorisms
by subject. However, the logical structure of Hahne-
mann’s argument remains unclear. A detailed reading
of the Organon (6th Edition 1,2,3) reveals explicit
signposts delineating many of the stages of Hahne-
mann’s argument (in aphorisms 1, 2, 3, 28, 71–72, 105,
146, 245, 288). We have collected these signposts,
added several of our own inference, and created a
representation of the Organon in concise, graphic
form. We feel this type of demonstration should be
useful both as a didactic tool in introducing the
Organon to neophytes, as well as a ‘table of contents’
for veterans, facilitating smooth navigation of the
document.
The structure of the Organon
The Organon may, for didactic purposes, be divided
into seven sections. These are: the Mission, the Plan,
the Premise, Principles, Mechanism, Practice, and an
Appendix (Figure 1). These will be described briefly.
Section 1: The Mission
(y 1–2)
This is a statement of the physician’s mission and the
highest ideal of cure.
Section 2: The Plan
(y 3–5)
Aphorism 3 is actually a blueprint for the body of
the Organon, detailing the three prerequisites to
fulfilling the stated mission, ie ascertaining: (1) what
 The structure of the Organon
SR Singer and M Oberbaum
152
(2) The perceptible disease manifestations express the
The entire disease (y12–15).
Mission
1, 2 (3) Disease and medicine act dynamically (y16).
(4) The sum of symptoms must be the sole indication
The Plan (y17–18).
3, (&4,5)
(5) The curative power of medicines is apparent only by
The Premise the symptoms they cause in the healthy individual
6-8 (y19–21).
(6) The relationship between the disease symptoms
Principles and medicinal symptoms must be homeopathic
9 - 27
(y22–24).
Mechanism (7) The most similar medicine, given in a dose that is
28 - 69 stronger than the disease, will cure (Law
of Similars, in nature and in medicine, stated)
(y24–27).
P r a c t i c e
Diseases Medicines Adaptation
72 - 104 105 - 145 146 - 287
Section 5: Mechanism
Alternative Therapies (y28–69)
288 - 291
Once the central argument for treatment according
Figure 1 A model of the structure of the Organon. The 291 to homeopathic principles has been developed, Hah-
aphorisms of the Organon are presented as a pyramid, broken nemann digresses to discuss the mechanism and its
down into seven successive stages. Each stage of the
pyramid contains the name of the section, along with the underlying science (y29–69). Hahnemann, scornful of
aphorism numbers that section includes. See text for ‘theoretic’ medicine (y2), attached ‘little importance’ to
explanations. this mechanism. That given, these ideas are of great
importance to the practising homeopath. Included
under this heading are the effect of medicines on the
human organism (y30–34), various scenarios occurring
is to be cured in the patient, (2) what is curative in when dissimilar diseases meet (y35–42), scenarios
medicines and (3) how to adapt the medicines to the occurring when similar diseases meet (y43–51), a
patient. These prerequisites will be discussed in detail comparison with the allopathic method of cure (y52–
in the Practical section (y72–287). Aphorisms 4 and 5 61) and an explanation of primary and secondary
may be viewed here as footnotes, briefly touching upon action (y62–69).
two subjects important to cure but not by defini- Interim summary (y70)
tion symptoms: ‘things that derange health and A summary of the principles of homeopathy.
cause disease’ (y4), and ‘exciting’ and fundamental Section 6: Practice
causes (y5). (y71–285)
Section 3: The Premise: The Centrality of Symptoms If Section 4 is the heart of the Organon, this is the
(y6–8) body. This section discusses in depth the three
Before delving into the principles of Homeopathy, prerequisites to homeopathic practice, according to
Hahnemann felt it necessary to assert the philosophical the plan laid out in aphorism 3.
premise upon which the ensuing argument, and indeed Introduction (y71)
Homeopathy, is based. For the entirety of medical
history, the centrality of symptoms to cure has been at (1) What is to be cured in (a specific case of) disease,
the heart of the conflict between empirical and including a discussion on the types of disease
rationalist medicine.4 In this section, Hahnemann (acute and chronic, y72–81), and case taking
places homeopathy firmly within the realm of empirical (y82–104).
medicine. Acceptance of this axiom is imperative to the (2) What is curative in (each particular) medicine,
further development of Hahnemann’s treatise. including an introduction to provings (y105–120),
A lack of recognition of this section as distinct from proving methodology (y121–142) and the concept
the general flow Hahnemann’s thesis has been a major of materia medica (y143–145).
barrier to recognition of the overall structure of the (3) How to adapt what is curative in medicine to what
Organon. is diseased in the patient (y146–287). The section
Section 4: Principles opens with a treasure of practical comments
(y9–27) regarding homeopathic prescribing and the initial
In this section, Hahnemann develops the argument reaction (y146–171), including Hahnemann’s in-
for treatment based upon the Law of Similars. junction to prescribe according to the ‘striking,
The argument may be broken into seven stages. singular, uncommon and peculiar’ symptoms
(y153), and the concept of the homeopathic
(1) Disease is dynamic (y9–11). aggravation (y156–161). The section then turns to

Homeopathy

discuss more specific disease states: ‘one-sided
diseases’ (y172–184), local maladies (y185–203),
chronic miasms (y204–210), mind symptoms and
mental diseases (y211–230), and intermittent dis-
ease (y231–244). Finally, the section includes an
explanation of LM dilutions (y245–248), directions
for case management after the initial prescription
(y249–258), the appropriate regimen to be fol-
lowed by the patient (y259–263), and directions for
the preparation and administration of homeo-
pathic medicines (y264–287).
Section 7: Appendix: Alternative Therapies
(y288–291)
This brief section is really an appendix on other
modes of non-conventional medicine common in
Hahnemann’s time.
Discussion
In this paper, we portray the Organon as a highly
formalistic document expressing a logical and elegant
continuity from the first aphorism to the last. Indeed
we believe this was Hahnemann’s intention. We have
broken the text into didactically coherent sections
consistent with that continuity, and propose a concise,
graphic representation of its format (Figure 1). This
representation is based primarily upon signposts laid
down by Hahnemann himself, within the body of the
text. However, particularly in the early aphorisms,
(y1–27), we have added our own interpretation of the
breakdown. Setting aphorisms 6–8 off from the main
body of the text may be considered audacious.
However, we feel our explanation is plausible, and
exposes the logical flow of the treatise, which otherwise
remains obtuse.
The demarcation of stages in aphorisms 9–27 is not
clear-cut, and we have chosen one interpretation
The structure of the Organon
SR Singer and M Oberbaum
153
among many. We believe that the significance of this
article is in its broad overview, though some of the
details may be debatable. We realize that this outline
may appear obvious to veteran students of the
Organon, however we are not aware that it has
previously appeared in writing. We hope that our
outline will form the basis for a table of contents for
the Organon, and that our graphic representation will
simplify instruction of the Organon, and its navigation.
Conclusion
The Organon of Medicine is a highly structured
document, with a clear argument flowing from begin-
ning to end. The central components of this treatise are
the physician’s mission, the plan to achieve that goal, a
philosophical premise to the discussion, basic princi-
ples, and a practical elaboration of that plan. The
discussions of the mechanism and alternative therapies
may be viewed as a digression and an appendix,
respectively. We delineate these components in outline
form and propose a graphic representation of the
document, accentuating the logical flow of its argu-
ment, thus hoping to improve its accessibility to both
novices and seasoned professionals.
References
1 Hahnemann SC, Organon der Heilkunst, 6th edn. German.
Hippokrates Verlag Stuttgart, 1982.
2 Hahnemann SC, In: Boericke W. (transl.), Organon of Medicine.
New Delhi: B Jain Publishers, 1992.
3 Hahnemann SC, In: O’Reilly WB. (ed), Organon of the Medical
Art. Palo Alto, California: Birdcage Books, 1996.
4 Coulter HC, Divided Legacy: A History of the Schism is Medical
Thought, Vol 1. Washington DC: Wehawken Book Co., 1975.
Homeopathy