VITALISM original volumes by d ’ Holbach in French have since vanished from Brukenthal ’ s Library , as Hahnemann ’ s request for the publication of his two volumes in German probably offended Brukenthal ’ s Protestant Lutheran sensitivities , 32 in a highly religious though mostly Catholic Europe . Hahnemann ’ s interest in d ’ Holbach may have been due to his excessive admiration for the triumphs of the sciences , since he would have read the published works of Galileo Galilei ( 1564-1642 ) and Isaac Newton ( 1642-1727 ), and other forebears of the scientific revolution . D ’ Holbach ’ s mechanistic explanations for the workings of nature by the physical sciences perhaps appealed to Hahnemann ’ s appreciation of naive inductivism that is invoked by direct sense-mediated experience . 33
Hahnemann ’ s 34 1805 publication , titled “ The Medicine of Experience ”, was the precursor to his 1810 first edition of the “ Organon ”. In both works , a personal healing experience was deemed sufficient inductive proof 35 of homeopathy . By this stage in Hahnemann ’ s development of homeopathy he no longer held to any materialistic or atheistic positions , as he had clearly returned to his Deist roots , recognising life as a vast field in which to do good , according to the permission and wisdom of God as the Supreme
36 , 37
One .
The material organism , without the vital force , is capable of no sensation , no function , no selfpreservation ; it derives all sensation and performs all the functions of life solely by means of the immaterial being ( the vital principle ) which animates the material organism in
38 , p . 34 health and in disease .
This was Hahnemann ’ s rationale for dynamising “ material ” medicines through a pharmacological process called potentisation , involving serial dilutions and intercurrent succussion to develop and reveal their vitalistic healing capacity to address a vitalistic disease , thus holistically curing the primary untunement of the patient ’ s vital force .
The spiritual power of medicine achieves its object not by quantity 39 , p . 310 but by quality .
Hahnemann did seriously consider the potential of these fashionable new sciences of his era , particularly with their impact on the developments within his special interest in practising chemistry , the offspring of alchemy . 40 Hahnemann ’ s interest in chemistry was stimulated even more in 1786 when he became personally acquainted with the famous French chemist , Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( 1743-1794 ), while he was passing through Dresden . Allegedly , they met at a large reception held at the Hotel de Pologne in Dresden where Lavoisier was staying , 41 and thereafter they continued to correspond . 42
Hahnemann was brought up by his father as a Lutheran - a minority Protestant religion , and did not convert to Catholicism , which was the dominant religion in Europe at that time . To identify as a Lutheran , Hahnemann would have risked religious discrimination , though this may have assisted him in establishing his patronage relationship with fellow Lutheran , Baron Samuel von Brukenthal ( 1721-1803 ) during a time of distress , to be engaged as Brukenthal ’ s librarian . It was Friedrich Wilhelm III , King of Prussia ( 1770-1840 ), and Commander in Chief of the Prussian Army , who issued edicts during Hahnemann ’ s lifetime forbidding traditional Lutheran worship . Heresy perhaps , but Hahnemann did suggest that the principles of the Chinese philosopher , Confucius ( 551 – 479 BC ), were superior to those of Jesus Christ , because Confucius had the ability to convey divine wisdom without using miracles , fables , or superstition . 43
Freemasonry
Becoming a Freemason was another way Hahnemann networked with other professionals throughout Europe , where the vast majority were of the Catholic faith . Many of Hahnemann ’ s letters show the typical Masonic ways of thinking , and the stylistic use of Masonic language . 44
Hahnemann was admitted as a Brother to the First Degree of the “ St . Andreas zu den drei Seeblättern ” ( St . Andrew of the Three Lotuses ) Freemason ’ s Lodge in Hermannstadt ( later renamed Sibiu ), in Transylvania , Romania , on 16 October 1777 , sponsored by his Lutheran patron , Brukenthal , the wealthiest man in Romania who also paid his significant entry fee . 45 Hahnemann rose from the First Degree through to the Fourth Degree in settings other than in Hermannstadt , as amongst others , he went on to join the Leipzig Freemason ’ s Lodge called “ Minerva to the Three Palms ”. Hahnemann remained faithful to his Masonic Order , since he frequently signed himself in his later years as “ Br .” ( Brother ). In the late eighteenth century , it was almost de rigueur for any man with intellectual pretensions and enlightened views to join a Freemason ’ s Lodge . Haehl 46 suggests that : “ In those days it was the highest dignitaries and most distinguished personalities who were members of the Freemason ’ s Lodges , so this admission may have proved to be of the greatest importance to Hahnemann ’ s progress ” ( p . 23 ).
Freemasonry seems to have originated , developed , and prospered as a part of a radical opposition in Europe to the conservatism of thought that existed in many fields , including philosophy , religion , and politics . It appealed to many famous freethinkers and intellectuals in the eighteenth century , such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ( 1749-1832 ) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ( 1756-1791 ), who were two of Hahnemann ’ s best-known contemporary Freemason adherents . Rima Handley 47 even suggests that this sharing of ideas between Freemasons was important in the origins of the French Revolution ( 1789-1799 ).
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