The Chronic Diseases
Their Peculiar Nature & Their Homeopathic Cure
Dr. Samuel Hahnemann
(Enumerated)
About Hahnemann’s Chronic Diseases (Theoretical Part) and Enumeration
Hahnemann published his masterful text, Chronic Diseases, in five parts. Beginning in 1828, during his time in Koethen, Germany, and ending in Paris, France in 1839, he shared his insights and methods on disease and its cure, client and case management, pharmacy and posology. This theory and method in the initial sections was followed by materia medica for a few dozen new or updated remedies. In contemporary publications, the five parts of the Chronic Diseases are gathered into two volumes. The content you will find in the downloadable document below is drawn from Volume 1’s initial section (prior to the materia medica), as originally translated to English by Tafel, and originally edited by Hughes and Dudley.
While this text holds so much of Hahnemann’s valuable insight, it has been perplexingly unpopular with the homeopathic community.
At the time of its initial publication the concepts of miasms in general, and psora in particular, were not well received. The materia medica content was used, but the theoretical portions were largely disregarded. In modern times, miasms continue to be inconsistently utilized in homeopathic clinical work. Perhaps Hahnemann is still ahead of his time, even now, in his understanding of the dynamics of chronic disease.
Chronic Diseases, as a training text for student homeopaths, usually holds a position that is peripheral at best; the Organon is given primary attention. Many homeopaths today continue to find the concepts of miasms and constraints of psora as confusing or irrelevant as when Hahnemann first published his ideas here. The book is dismissed by those who do not use miasms in clinical practice. This is unfortunate, as there is a deep wellspring here of Hahnemann’s years of experience on a variety of clinical topics that apply widely, whether miasms are a part of the homeopath’s clinical approach or not.
Additionally, the actual text format of the Chronic Diseases is difficult to use in a class; unlike the Organon, there are no handy aphorism numbers and clear conceptual groupings. Depending on the particular printing, the content on any given page number is quite variable. It isn’t workable to ask students to look, for example, at 3rd paragraph of page 47. When a teacher, presenting on any homeopathic topic, includes a quote from Chronic Diseases, the teachers’ page number is unlikely to match the student’s text. The footnoting can run across pages, and can be awkward to reference, as Hahnemann explains additional concepts or source documents.
These textual limitations cast an unnecessary shadow on Hahnemann’s wise advice and practical pointers. While preserving the original content of the English translation for Hahnemann’s words, a new structure has been added, numbering each paragraph within the initial theoretical and methodological portion of the text. Various spelling and typographical errors have been corrected. Chronic Diseases (Enumerated) now offers the same ease of location and reference that we take for granted in Hahnemann’s Organon. It is hoped that this enumerated version of Chronic Diseases will increase the practical daily use of this valuable text – for homeopaths, for teachers, for students, for readers.
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