Two Faces of Homoeopathy

Homoeopathy, along with other systems of alternative medicine, is very much in the air today. In this book, Dr. Campbell, the consultant at the Royal Homoeopathic Hospital, London approaches the subject in a new way, and in so doing sheds some unexpected light not just on homoeopathy but also on the wider question of the relationship between orthodox and "fringe" medicine. He divides the complicated and still controversial practice of homoeopathy into two distinct aspects, and makes it easier to understand the conflicting ideas the very word sets up in many people's minds. First, there is the scientific aspect, the development of a medical discipline complementary to orthodox medicine. It is based on a principle fundamentally different from the traditional methods of curing: it uses like to cure like - that is, to combat the patient's symptoms it chooses a substance which would set up the symptoms in a healthy person, and lets the 'artificial disease' drive out the natural one. Secondly Dr. Campbell discusses the recent upsurge of public interest in the metaphysical side of homoeopathy - an aspect vitally present in its creator, Samuel Hahnemann (whose life is sketches as a pivotal element of the author's story), but which has led to a great deal of ridicule and misunderstanding. Today metaphysical homoeopathy has a strong strong appeal to people attracted by a holistic approach to medicine. Anthony Campbell does not believe that metaphysical homoeopathy alone is adequate, and argues that homoeopathy should be joined with ideas of the present, and notably Jungian psychology, to find ways of integrating mind, heart and body in a new synthesis.