Sapere aude – Philosophy and Zeitgeist in Hahnemann's Time

Summary

Hahnemann changed Kant's motto of the Age of Enlightenment “sapere aude” into “aude sapere” in his second edition of the Organon in 1819. The inversion can be regarded as a criticism of the strict materialism into which the Enlightenment had developed as homeopathy shows that materialism is wrong. In a similar way the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer unmasked philosophical materialism as being based on circular conclusion. After Schopenhauer's proof it is logically impossible to deny homeopathy due to its nonmaterial effects. There are more similarities between the two great thinkers revealed by the fact that Schopenhauer introduces a non-material force behind matter and reality which recalls our experience with homeopathic remedies and describes a mental healing process as the great sapere aude.

Schlüsselwörter

Sapere aude - Hahnemann - Kant - Schopenhauer - Materialism

References

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1 Rene Descartes (1596–1650) had talked of two substances, one for the soul, one for the body.

2 Werner Heisenberg to the young Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker in 1927: “I think I disproved the law of causality”.

3 Remarkably Schopenhauer was influenced by the philosophical tradition of India, the country which accepted homeopathy most.