History & Philosophy of Homeopathy Flashcards
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Read the first 7 History & Philosophy of Homeopathy flashcards as text
Which 20th-century Greek homeopath is known for systematizing classical homeopathy through the concept of 'essence' and authoring 'Materia Medica Viva'?
Answer: George Vithoulkas
George Vithoulkas, awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1996, developed the concept of the essence of remedies and authored the comprehensive 'Materia Medica Viva.'
What is the central thesis of Rajan Sankaran's 'sensation method' in homeopathy?
Answer: The patient's deepest experience of their complaint reveals the vital sensation matching a specific remedy source
Sankaran's sensation method holds that beneath pathology lies a vital sensation unique to each remedy source, accessible through a structured interview that goes beyond symptoms.
What was the primary focus of the 'New School' or 'High Dilutionists' led by figures like Kent and Hering, as opposed to the 'Low Potency School'?
Answer: Prescribing in very high centesimal potencies (200C, 1M, 10M) based on totality of symptoms
High dilutionists like Kent championed very high potencies selected on the complete symptom totality, in contrast to low-potency prescribers who aligned remedies with tissue pathology.
In Hahnemann's Organon, what is meant by the 'totality of symptoms'?
Answer: The entirety of the patient's characteristic signs and symptoms that together form the disease picture
The totality of symptoms is the complete, individualized symptom picture of a patient—the only guide to remedy selection—since disease is otherwise unknowable to the physician.
Which homeopathic institution, founded in 1844, was the first national medical society established in the United States?
Answer: American Institute of Homeopathy
The American Institute of Homeopathy was founded in 1844, two years before the AMA, making it the oldest national medical professional organization in the US.
What role did the Flexner Report of 1910 play in the history of homeopathy in the United States?
Answer: It led to widespread closure of homeopathic medical schools by applying strict scientific standards
The Flexner Report applied laboratory-science standards that most homeopathic colleges could not meet, resulting in the closure of most homeopathic medical schools within two decades.
Which principle explains why homeopaths prescribe a single remedy at a time rather than multiple remedies simultaneously?
Answer: The single remedy principle, which holds that only one medicine can be the most similar and act on the vital force at once
Classical homeopathy prescribes a single remedy—the simillimum—because only one substance can be most similar to the patient's totality, and mixing remedies obscures the response.