This book review is reprinted from the New England Journal of Homeopathy with the permission of Amy Rothenberg, ND, DHANP.
New England School of Homeopathy
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Organon of the Medical Art
by Samuel Hahnemann, MD
Edited and Annotated by Wenda Brewster O'Reilly, PhD
Translated by Stephen Decker
Reviewed by Paul Mittman, ND, DHANP
In accordance with homeopathic book reviewing principles, I will start with the generals and work my way down to the particulars. This new edition of Hahnemann's Organon of the Medical Art is beautiful, though not in a lavish or pretentious way. Nonetheless, everything about Wenda Brewster O'Reilly and Stephen Decker's text says, 'I am the most important book on the shelf.'
The authors have taken a learned approach to Hahnemann's work; Stephen Decker translating with great precision and consistency and Wenda Brewster O'Reilly editing, annotating and adding an extensive index and glossary. They also include Hahnemann's original preface, introduction and table of contents/synopsis (all were omitted from later translations of the Organon). The result is a text that brings the reader so close to the meaning and nuances of Hahnemann's original work that it practically beseeches one to pick it up and study.
Beneath the attractive jacket, the front cover is adorned with 2 embossed words, Samuel Hahnemann. Open the book and one gazes at a reproduction of Hahnemann's handwritten original sixth edition manuscript. As befits a text that has withstood the scrutiny of the past 187 years, this edition is sturdily-bound with thick pages.
Translation
Over the years I have grown comfortable with the
Kunzli translation of the sixth edition. Decker's
translation and O'Reilly's editing, both truer to
Hahnemann's word choices and sentence structure,
required me to adjust to a very different and less
modern style. Here is an example comparing
paragraph 9, first from Kunzli and then from
O'Reilly:
"In the state of health the spirit-like vital force (dynamis) animating the material human organism reigns in supreme sovereignty.
It maintains the sensations and activities of all the parts of the living organism in a harmony that obliges wonderment. The reasoning spirit who inhabits the organism can thus freely use this healthy living instrument to reach the lofty goal of human existence." (Kunzli)
"In the healthy human state, the spirit-like force
(autocracy) that enlivens the material organism as
dynamis, governs without restriction and keeps all
parts of the organism in admirable, harmonious,
vital operation, as regards both feelings and functions, so that our indwelling, rational spirit can
freely avail itself of this living, healthy instrument
for the higher purposes of our existence."
(O'Reilly)
I have adjusted to this new edition and appreciate the literalness of the text. Its like reading the Organon as a contemporary of Hahnemann.
Layout
This edition of the Organon of the Medical Art is
big and expansive with ample white space, making it
a pleasure to read. There is a full 2 inches from the
text's margin to the edge of the paper leaving plenty
of room upon which readers can make notations.
O'Reilly partitions the book into 12 chapters. Those who have read the Organon will readily agree with her editorial license. The material is much more easily absorbed broken up into 12 natural chapters than in 291 uninterrupted aphorisms.
Another very helpful layout is the numbered listing of special questions or points. In contrast, the Kunzli edition has these following one another in paragraph form. There are many instances where this style is put to use. Here is a comparison of the footnote (a) to aphorism 235 on the differentiating points of intermittent fevers:
(Kunzli)
... There are innumerable different kinds of these
fevers: many of them cannot be called agues at all,
because their paroxysms consist only of heat;
others are characterized only by cold, with or
without sweat afterwards; in others the patient is
objectively cold all over but has a sensation of heat,
or is objectively hot while experiencing chill; in
others one paroxysm consists only of rigor or
simple chilliness followed by a feeling of well-
being, while the next consists only of heat with or
without subsequent sweat; ...
(O'Reilly)
... There are countless variations of intermittent
fevers, for example:
1. There are many intermittent fevers that cannot
be called cold fever at all because their attacks
consist only of heat.
2. Other intermittent fevers only have attacks of
cold, with or without sweat afterwards.
3. There are others in which the patient is cold all
over but feels hot internally, or the patient is hot
to the touch but feels cold.
4. There are others in which one paroxysm
consists only of shivering or simply feeling cold,
followed by feeling well. This is followed by a
paroxysm of heat, with or without subsequent
sweat. ...
Glossary and Index
The index is comprehensive and well organized.
The 84 page glossary alone justifies purchasing
this book. As O'Reilly states in her introduction,
"The Glossary includes definitions of medical
terms used in the Organon, as well as translating
notes on specific words. Readers can now understand terms as Hahnemann meant them instead of
having to guess which of an English word's
several meanings was meant to apply. Also found
in the Glossary are definitions of concepts that are
fundamental to an understanding of Hahnemann's
mode of thought."
Some English words have several German counterparts which have subtly different meanings within the context of their use in the Organon. Take the word 'knowledge' for example: knowledge. Hahnemann uses various terms to refer to different modes of knowledge: To be aware: wissen (to wit). To have intellectual awareness, discursive cognition, such as that knowledge gained from books, lectures or scientific study. Wissen has both a cognitive and a perceptive component; it involves the senses and the brain (as spectators rather than as participators). Specifically, wissen refers to cognition based upon perception. The German word for science is Wissenschaft. ( ¶ 3, ¶ 4, ¶ 99) To know: kennen (to ken). To have deep personal knowledge, such as that based on life experience, specifically that part of life experience that cannot be conveyed to another person through teaching or demonstration. For example, the difference between wissen and kennen is the difference between knowing about water from reading about it and studying it scientifically versus knowing from having dived into lakes, waded in streams and walked in the rain ... (¶ 3, ¶ 4, ¶ 52) ... To discern: erkennen. The terms kennen and erkennen both refer to personal knowledge gained from participative experience. Erkennen is the higher of the two, referring to a level of knowledge that is raised out of the feeling, aesthetic realm into that of pure thought. It is the purest, deepest, most complete form of knowledge. This is the basis, for example, of artistic knowledge. Hahnemann uses Erkennen to describe the knowledge gained by doing provings of medicines on oneself. (¶ 3, ¶ 6, ¶ 11)
The Organon of the Medical Art, more than any other book in homeopathic literature, must be read many times over the long years of one's career to fully comprehend its meaning and value to homeopathic practice. Wenda Brewster O'Reilly and Stephen Decker can look on with pride, as this and future generations of homeopaths gain ever deepening insights into the healing art by studying this magnificent edition of Hahnemann's work.
Paul Mittman ND DHANP is the co-editor of this Journal. He is relocating to Arizona where he will become Chair of the Homeopathy Department at Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine.
New England Journal of Homeopathy Volume 6, Number 1
Winter 1997