Talk:Homeopathy/Archive 13

Is Paracelus a key figure in the historical development of homeopathic theory?
I would add the following points - looking at the conversation above. Gareth and Dana both explicitly acknowledge the importance and relevance of Paracelus to the 'origins of homeopathy'. There is some debate over how much H was influened by P, which Pieree-Alain early referecne alluded to - for 'political' reasons H may have wished to downplay his links to an alchemist in favour of linking to the corpus of a respected 'Ancient authority'.

As far as the article goes, we need to be accurate. All agree that the text is not accurate and attemtps to 'fudge it' are not very defensible.

Secondly, the historicla origins of Homeopathy are NOT irrelevant to an article called 'Homeopathy'. I suppose we could rename it 'Modern Homeopathy' but I think we can all see that his is a specious ruse to avoid finishing the job properly. I would counsel against that. Note too that the History of Homeopathy page is innaccurate and unhelpful. We would link to innaccurate informaton rather than correct it here?

The text I would like included is the text Dana deleted - directly running against the work of three or four others to resolve the issue.

The debate summary again

The issue, to sum up, is that Paracelsus is a key figure in the historical development of the homeopathic method. I do not insist on any particular way of stating this, eg 'is the Father of' or 'Founder of' as these terms are ambiguous. But the key idea is clear. To back up the role of Paracelus in homeopathic theory, Citizens have provided evidence from several books in the area, plus the Britannica, plus quotations from webpages by homeopaths.

I have noted on the Paracelus page (see below) the sort of claims I think are relevant to Paracelsus's role.

However, primarily Dana has prevented me and others from adding text to the page allowing Paracelsus a key role in the origins of homeopathy.

He, and some others, have suggested that I have not provided any evidence for this view, and have disregarded expert opinions from themselves. But I have provided a good deal of evidence and so have others. (I leave out of this appeal the issue of the accuracy of the claims made for Hippocrates as the key historical figure instead.)

Dana has suggested the issue can be changed into one of how much debt to Paracelus Hahnemann acknowledges, but that is not the issue here. (Pierre-Alain even provided evidence - a book source - that Hahnemann avoided acknowledging his debt for his own 'political' reasons'.) The existing academic consensus is that Paracelsus is a key figure in the history of homeopathy. That is the issue.

More details

Is Paracelus a key figure in the historical development of homeopathic theory? On the Paracelus page I have been able to record some of the evidence for this view:

"The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopaedia credits him with "the establishment of chemistry in medicine" and giving the "the most up-to-date description of syphilis" It adds that "he was the first to argue that small doses of what makes people ill can also cure them". Many of his remedies were based on the Classical belief that "like cures like" and in this he was practising what today is regarded as homeopathy.

"Sarah Richardson, Director of the Society of Homeopaths (U.K.), accords Paracelus a special place in the development of "the homeopathic principle", saying he went on to illustrate the principle by curing a village of the plague with medicine made from minute amounts of the villagers, own excreta". "The background to this is the summer of 1534, during which Paracelsus claimed to have cured many in the plague-stricken town of Stertzing with pills containing a minute amount of the patient's excreta. According to Anna Stoddart's The life of Paracelsus, Theophrastus von Hohenheim, 1493-1541, "Paracelsus stayed some weeks at Stertzing and was appalled at the ignorance and helplessness of the local doctors... He decided to put his own experience and opinion into writing for the benefit of the afflicted town.... He appended to his diagnosis of the plague a series of counsels as to its treatment and a number of prescriptions and recipes. The little book in four chapters was presented to the ' Burgomaster and Magistrates of Stertzingen, ... He received little thanks for his book from the civic worthies, but it is probable that during his stay in Stertzing he practised as one knowing the plague and made enough of money to provide himself with necessary clothing, food, and lodging.'""

I have noted some of the other evidence for this hypothesis for the talk page already:

Here is the point about Paracelus summed up there:

1. The central principle - as stated in the meta notes for this page - is

"Alternative medicine that uses extremely small specially prepared doses of the drugs that cause the similar syndrome of symptoms as the person's illness."

This is the idea that prompted P to connect 'thistle scratches' with inflammation, and 'miniscule parts of plague excreata' with curing the illness itself. As noted already, the quote are in the historical origins section and illustrate the central homeopathic idea of 'like cures like'. It may not be 'homeopathic' in the current sense, but it has historical notability.

2. Paracelsus popularised this idea, influencing Hahnemann. Pierre-Alain provided a quote confirming that:

"Peter Morell (historian of medicine, with training in homeopathy and conventional biology), "Hahnemann and Homoeopathy". ... Hahnemann was reluctant to associate his new system of medicine with the name of Theophrastus or Paracelsus for fear of being misunderstood or being accused of plagiarism. (p. 15)... The truth is of course, that Hahnemann was a second Paracelsus, but he felt he had to hide this fact. (p.72)"

3. I do not especially wish to argue for P as either the 'Father' of Homeopathy - or as a 'founding figure'. In response to Dana's request, I gave examples showing that 'some' people say he is the former, and others consider him the latter.

I also offered: ""The doctrine of signatures was a purely philosophical notion until Boehme's predecessor, the alchemist Paracelsus, had applied it to medicine ..." from page 27 of The American Institute of Homeopathy Handbook by Edward, M.D., D.Ht. Shalts"

As Pierre-Alain put it:

"My conclusion is that the influence of Paracelsus on Hahnemann, a very erudite person, was major. There are far more resemblances between P and H than this (signatures). Should we say "father of homeopathy"? perhaps, with a cautionary note."

It is enough, in my view, to recognise he had a 'noteworthy' influence. Ramanand has provided several good points in this regard,such as that the Britannica article on Homeopathy states that P "was the first to declare that, if given in small doses, “what makes a man ill also cures him,” an anticipation of the modern practice of homeopathy. "

Martin Cohen 18:43, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

- but had only this response from the editor deleting several people's comments on Paracelus - not just mine, I stress:

"Martin, in due respect, I do not think that your scholarship is good here. Just because one author referred to Hahnemann the "second Paracelsus" does not have the meaning you suggest. Paracelsus was a medical revolutionary, as was Hahnemann, and both were hated by the orthodoxy. That is the point. This certainly does not mean that Paracelsus is or was the "father" or "founder" of homeopathy. What I am concerned about now is that you have been repeatedly told by several people here that they do not agree with you, and yet, you are not listening. I hope that you begin to listen better so that collaboration can be most effective.

And in reference to Ramanand making reference to a single (very rare) homeopathic medicine that is taken from faeces does not have a clear reference to the homeopathic principle of similars. Martin's previous point on this was the principle of similars, and I just don't see it. Dana Ullman 05:38, 24 December 2008 (UTC) "

I responded to that thus:

"Ramanand, Pierre-Alain, Gareth and myself have all contributed material to this page on Paracelus which you have deleted offering only fleeting explanation, usually (IMO) irrelevant to the issue. Over 200 words have been deleted now. This normally requires some degree of explanation and consensus reaching, doesn't' it. None has been sought here. No compromise wordings offered. Ramanand, Pierre-Alain and even Gareth have added extra references and supporting material. All of this effort is being discarded.

Here is my suggestion again: 

1. We have an historical origins section. (Re. Howard's point of the 24 December - if we didn't well, yes, we could leave the article explicitly NOT covering the pre_H history of Homeopathy). Paracelus and Hippocrates belong in this section. See 'Final Arguments in the Case of Paracelus' above. Numerous citations to this effect, from the Britannica:

"He was the first to declare that, if given in small doses, “what makes a man ill also cures him,” an anticipation of the modern practice of homeopathy..."onwards have been given - see above too. Ramanand and Gareth's work describing the two celebrated historical cases of 'like-cures-like' examples of P using thistles to cure inflammation, and P using excrement affected bread to cure plague should be restored.

Here is the text deleted:

(Paracelsus asserted the healing power of "signatures", meaning that the appearance of a substance in nature (its color and its shape), represented the types of diseases which it could cure. )This led him, for example, to teach that the pricking of thistles cures internal inflammation, and is sometimes cited as an early form of the "principle of similars". ref Theophrastus Paracelsus Catholic Encyclopaedia entry/ref In the summer of 1534, Paracelsius claimed to have cured many in the plague-stricken town of Stertzing with pills containing a minute amount of the patient's excreta.ref. Cited by Homeopathy Encyclopaedia Britannica. According to " The life of Paracelsus, Theophrastus von Hohenheim, 1493-1541" by Anna M. Stoddart (1911) "Paracelsus stayed some weeks at Stertzing and was appalled at the ignorance and helplessness of the local doctors... He decided to put his own experience and opinion into writing for the benefit of the afflicted town.... He appended to his diagnosis of the plague a series of counsels as to its treatment and a number of prescriptions and recipes. The little book in four chapters was presented to the " Burgomaster and Magistrates of Stertzingen, ... He received little thanks for his book from the civic worthies, but it is probable that during his stay in Stertzing he practised as one knowing the plague and made enough of money to provide himself with necessary clothing, food, and lodging."/ref

.... Martin Cohen 14:56, 24 December 2008 (UTC) "

Matt Innis, as constable for the page, then suggested the "CZ:Dispute Resolution process should be followed". However, Martt now seems to prefer to approve the page? But that is still what I would like to set in motion then please. I hope the notes above are useful in getting the matter clarified. I think that Paracelus should appear prominently on the Homeopathy page where the theory’s origins are RIGHTLY mentioned and discussed. No short-cuts, CZ is accurate and that means 'complete' - or it is pointless - however many pages are 'finished'. Martin Cohen 12:11, 3 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Martin, you argue strongly and cogently. Nevertheless, for readers who wish to access Homeopathy with a curiosity about the subject's historical roots, we should direct them to the main article on that topic, History of Homeopathy, the appropriate place for discussing the roots homeopathy pre-Hahnemann, the uncontroversially recognized founding father of modern homeopathy. There they can read an extensive, authoritative, qualified and balanced view of the pre-history of homeopathy. In Homeopathy we need only start with the founding father, indicating that the reader can learn about the pre-Hahnemann foreshadowings of homeopathy in a companion article, History of Homeopathy. No need to have the same material in both articles. No scholarship standards should thereby suffer. And we can get on to approving Homeopathy, then improving History of Homeopathy.  Nothing important about the historical roots of homeopathy will escape CZ's mission for quality, in this case, everything in its proper place.  --Anthony.Sebastian 17:30, 3 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Martin, you argue strongly and cogently. Nevertheless, for readers who wish to access Homeopathy with a curiosity about the subject's historical roots, we should direct them to the main article on that topic, History of Homeopathy, the appropriate place for discussing the roots homeopathy pre-Hahnemann, the uncontroversially recognized founding father of modern homeopathy. There they can read an extensive, authoritative, qualified and balanced view of the pre-history of homeopathy. In Homeopathy we need only start with the founding father, indicating that the reader can learn about the pre-Hahnemann foreshadowings of homeopathy in a companion article, History of Homeopathy. No need to have the same material in both articles. No scholarship standards should thereby suffer. And we can get on to approving Homeopathy, then improving History of Homeopathy.  Nothing important about the historical roots of homeopathy will escape CZ's mission for quality, in this case, everything in its proper place.  --Anthony.Sebastian 17:30, 3 January 2009 (UTC)


 * In light of Dana's extensive homeopathic education and understanding and Martin's perspective related to the larger historical aspects, it is apparent that this subject is indeed interesting and warrents further exploration and investigation. Approval is in no way a stopping point.  It is merely a 'starting' point that everyone can agree is essentially not incorrect.  I agree that Anthony's solution does manage this debate well.  Once the History of Homeopathy article is complete, I personally would consider revisiting this page and update anything that was appropriate for this page for re-approval.  Let's approve this page and move to history.  I can endorse this version which is the last version before this post, January 3, 2009.  Gareth, if you agree, please change the version number on the template.  We will need Dana to agree as well.  Otherwise, continue to edit as you see fit. D. Matt Innis 02:21, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Version for approval
Thanks Anthony for the constructive suggestion. However I am nominating for approval a version without incorporating it. Virtually every contemporary source explaining homeopathy written by or for homeopaths starts by invoking Hippocrates. This seems important to homeopaths, and I can understand why: it is at the heart of their claim to a tradition as old as conventional medicine, from the same humane roots, at the heart of their legitimacy as a true "alternative" medicine. It doesn't really matter what Hippocrates actually said -nothing of his writings survives - but Hahnemann claimed Hippocrates for homeopathy, and that is indisputably true.

On Paracelsus; Martin wants to reinstate some text which I inserted originally. Dana deleted the text and on consideration I think he was right. Matt concurred. On my count all three editors here agreed on an editorial judgement about the scope of the article. This is the editorial role under Citizendium. Authors who disagreed expressed their views and were answered (at length). I've reviewed the discusssion again; thanks Martin for reminding me of Peter Morell's writings; Peter is an old friend and I have cited him enough I think. Peter's writings on the web are lively and provocative, they are a useful lead to serious sources and I probably used a lead from one of his essays to the insert on Paracelsus; I do recommend them to those who wish to write on the History of Homeopathy, but please remember that his web writings are written with a liberty not normally given to academic publications (Peter of course has ample academic writings also). However the comments raised above do not address the issues behind the editorial decision on the article scope, so raise no new relevant points.

I am not neutral in this; I am very much on the side of Citizendium. It so happens that I was the author of deleted text, but am concurring with its deletion. That change was explained on these pages and agreed by all editors (including me, and indeed by most authors). It seems to me that editors here have fulfilled their role in Citizendium. One purpose of the editorial role is to end disputes like this, and if there has been a fault it is perhaps that we editors have not made it clear enough that a decision has been made and this matter must be put to rest for the good of the article and the project. Please do not revive this dispute on these pages; if anyone disagrees with Citizendium policies on the roles of editors, this is not the place to air those disagreements, and if anyone feels that I have misused my position as seditor then you must appeal to the editor in Chief and not here.

So I am now nominating for approval the most recently revised version excluding Anthony's suggestion. Dana, Matt, Larry - are you in agreement?Gareth Leng 11:24, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Though I haven't carefully followed all the details of the dispute here, I do have to say that you have admirably summed up CZ's policy. So if the subject editors here are in agreement, I support them without further comment. --Larry Sanger 14:47, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I can support and do endorse that version as well and have added my name to the metadata template as editor 2. I look forward to the History of Homeopathy article and subsequent resolution of the Paracelsus/Hippocrates debate over there. I will also email Dana. D. Matt Innis 15:12, 4 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Gareth has provided a good summary, and I agree with him. I am now ready to vote for APPROVAL of this article.  How do I do that?  Dana Ullman 16:16, 4 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Dana, go to the metadata template and put your name after 'ToA editor3=' and save the changes. D. Matt Innis 16:33, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

I have changed the approved version to include previously approved copyedits and moving the NCCAM info. Nothing changes the content of the approved version that Gareth gave us. D. Matt Innis 16:33, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

I have again changed the version number to include Hayford's last copyedits. D. Matt Innis 19:20, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Nature not buying
Giles J. (2007) Degrees in homeopathy slated as unscientific. Nature 446:352-353.

Colquhoun D. (2007) Science degrees without the science. Nature 446:373-374.

Kutschera U. (2008) The Difference between Hahnemann and Darwin Skeptical Inquirer Jan/Feb Issue

--Anthony.Sebastian 04:05, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Thanks Anthony; of course I know the controversy well (and know David well too). I think the article at present states the attitude of conventional science to homeopathy clearly enough; if we had dwelt on UK degrees in homeopathy it would have been right to mention this but we didn't, and maybe it's a UK-centric issue (there are issues like the status of different universities - in the UK universities are very far from equal in academic status but they are sometimes talked about as though they were). I'll add these to subpages though (maybe bibliography).Gareth Leng 10:40, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Clarification
This should probably be asked on the history of homeopathy talk page but did Paracelsus use dilutions or did he treat with higher concentrations? While similars is a highly significant part of Hahnemann's homeopathy the preparation of the remedies seems equally, if not more, important too. Sorry if I missed this in the discussion above. Chris Day 16:15, 4 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes, Chris, very good point. This is exactly the type of questions that need to be asked and answered and collaborated on before we put anything here.  I look forward to future discussions to see how it works out on the History of Homeopathy page - stay tuned! D. Matt Innis 16:36, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

What does the magisterial 1941 E.B. say about the whole thing (just out of curiosity)?
And I quote from page 708, column 1, Volume 11: "Some points of Hahnemann's system were borrowed from previous writers—as he himself, though imperfectly, admits. Not to mention others, he was anticipated by Hippocrates, and especially by Paracelsus (1495-1541). The identical words similia similibus curantur occur in the Geneva edition (1658) of the works of Paracelsus, as a marginal heading of one of the paragraphs."

The article takes up a little less than two columns and is unsigned. The end of the article is: "But in the medical profession homoepathy nevertheless remains under the stigma of being a dissenting sect. It is in the United States that homoepathy chiefly flourishes. In other countries it has a few practitioners and a few homoepathic hospitals have been founded. Associations (some of which conduct examinations and grant diplomas) are in existence in England, the United States, Canada, Germany, France and Italy to further the principles of the school and in each of the countries mentioned one or more journals devoted to homoepathy is in existence." Hayford Peirce 19:08, 4 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Good news. What we have is still in line with that statement.  That needs to go on the History of Homeopathy discussion page, too. D. Matt Innis 19:13, 4 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Perhaps this is more workgroup(s) than even history of homeopathy, but I started rereading Lewis Thomas' The Youngest Science, a book that is a must-read. In many of these historical contexts, it is easy lose track of his argument that conventional medicine is among the youngest of sciences: "As early as 1937, medicine was changing into a technology base on genuine science"...but Thomas goes on to mention that medicine of that time still could not do anything for the bulk of patients with serious disease. Things like specific immunotherapy were just starting were only starting, but things like ligand-receptor interactions remained in the distant future. Perhaps the onion metaphor is even more relevant to molecular medicine, as the amount of contemporary knowledge -- and knowing what we don't know -- grows exponentially. Some CAM techniques actively learn, but others do seem stuck with medieval or ancient views.


 * I shall drop this, but suggest again that some metadiscussions need their own pages. There is a start at the Healing Arts discussion page. Some wonderful methods have interdisciplinary roots, indeed involving both the traditional and the molecular. I'm reminded of the sin nombre hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the Southwest U.S. in 1993. Solving it took both CDC epidemiologists and Navajo traditional healers. This is one of the reasons I oppose the health sciences/healing arts split, and I'd like to see some integrative metadiscussions and active work planning that doesn't follow artificial splits.


 * I've said my piece on this. Howard C. Berkowitz 19:31, 4 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Ohhh, you've just touched the tip of the iceberg for sure. I agree that the history of medicine is one in the same for alternative medicine.  It intertwines with the history of religion and the history of science.  There are so many more articles to write.  We need everyone working on them.  But, I agree, not here. D. Matt Innis 19:44, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

APPROVED Version 1.0
Congratulations Healing Arts editors! It took a while but the results are worth it.

Discussion for Version 1.0 stopped here. Please continue further discussion under this break. Chris Day 20:34, 4 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks, Chris, and everyone else that poured out their heart and souls on this. Good work. Take a little breather before we go to work on Global warming, HA!  just kidding (unless you're game :-) D. Matt Innis 21:15, 4 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Sir, please work on your mixed metaphors: global warming after touching the tip of the iceberg? I do note we have no article on RMS Titanic.Howard C. Berkowitz 02:28, 5 January 2009 (UTC)


 * You could always come and work on the Church of Scientology. No dilutions, but plenty of inter-galactic space aliens and friendly legal threats from the Fair Game department. --Tom Morris 04:07, 5 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Congratulations, everyone. Getting an article on a contentious topic like this approved says a lot about the value and potential of our project.  Such a thing could simply not happen in a project like Wikipedia (check out the notices on their article!). --Joe Quick 21:28, 4 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Congratulations, omne. (Chunbum Park 22:45, 4 January 2009 (UTC))

Congratulations to everyone! Now, let's vote this for the Article of the Week and put it on the front page. :-) --Larry Sanger 01:17, 5 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Without my commas and semi-colon corrections, it wouldna made it! Now, I think that some "vandal" here should disguise him/self and use it to replace, in its entirety, the same entry over at The Other Place. I wonder what would happen.... Hayford Peirce 02:20, 5 January 2009 (UTC)


 * The Other Place has its version locked. One can't even give it a homeopathic quantity of editing. Hey, do they have a Content is from Citizendium checkbox? Howard C. Berkowitz 02:27, 5 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I could import a French translation in the FR-WP! Seriously, I may do that for some sections and see what happens. But later. --Pierre-Alain Gouanvic 02:33, 5 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, they *do* have a link to a James Randi video (apparently a lecture at Princeton) called "Homeopathy explained", so it can't be *all* bad! Hayford Peirce 02:36, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

Rather irritating last paragraph
I find the last paragraph rather irritating:
 * Scientists in almost any area expect that, what today is the consensus understanding will, in some tomorrow, by a mere curiosity in the history of science. They do not have all the answers, and they expect that many of their present "answers" will turn out to be not quite right and some will be quite wrong. They generally think it very unlikely homeopathy will ultimately prove to have any validity; but of course this is one of those things that they might turn out to be wrong about.

Yes, scientists may be wrong about stuff. Do we need to have this on every science and medicine article? I mean, scientists may be wrong about homeopathy not being a load of cobblers. They may be wrong about gravity, evolution and the Big Bang also. Surely, when they are wrong, we can change the article to reflect that. Until then, this feels very much like some kind of crap bit of epistemic relativist trifle to try and spin an otherwise much improved article. If we want to have a proper discussion of the philosophy of science, then perhaps it would be appropriate to put them in an appropriately titled article in the Philosophy workgroup. The current placement of it makes it into a sort of 'get-out' clause. "Don't you worry about the fact that all these scientist types say homeopathy is about as real as Disneyland and safe only because there's no actual substance left in there - well, science has been wrong before, y'know, and if you just hang around for a century or two, it might be wrong again." That's how it reads to me. (I'd rather like it if all the people who seem to bang on about scientific fallibility would actually do the experiments and research necessary to show how they are right and the big bad bogeyman 'Science-with-a-capital-S' - or 'Big Science'! - is wrong - there'd no doubt be a Nobel Prize waiting for someone who did actually overturn the current understanding on the 'memory of water'.)

So, yes, the approved version is dramatically better than the last time I checked in, but it's still not to the point where I could recommend it to people because of this abysmal paragraph. --Tom Morris 04:00, 5 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks for that Tom. It is rather refreshing to see a scientist not arguing from a position of authority isn't it. Gareth wrote that whole last Overview section, so I'll bend to his credentials. Maybe your friends could learn something from him, I did. D. Matt Innis 04:35, 5 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Who are you referring to when you say that it's "refreshing to see a scientist not arguing from a position of authority"? I generally don't see scientists arguing from authority. Science is refreshing in as much as it has things like error bars. What I would give for a world where politicians, religious leaders, economists and even philosophers could attach to their statements some kind of numerical assessment of how wrong they might be! --Tom Morris 04:49, 5 January 2009 (UTC)