Samuel Hahnemann, being a genius and an honest person wound up his medical practice after realising that it was impossible to serve humanity within the existing medical norms. He resorted to translation of famous medical and scientific books.

In 1790 when Hahnemann was engaged in translating William Cullen's Materia Medica from English to German, his attention was arrested by a remark made by the author that cinchona bark cured Malaria just because of its bitterness. In an attempt to discover its true mode of action, he experimented on himself, by ingesting a dram of cinchona juice twice daily for a few days. To his great astonishment he developed symptoms very similar to Malaria fever. This unexpected result provoked a new train of thought and he conducted similar experiments on himself and other individuals with some medicines whose curative action in certain diseases had been well established. He found that in healthy persons the medicines produce symptoms very similar to what they can cure in diseased individuals.

So he was lead to the inference that medicines cure diseases only because they can produce similar symptoms in healthy persons. The philosophy of Homoeopathy is derived from this law, this revolutionary breakthrough to a whole new dimension in the understanding of medicine.

Although the principle of "Similia Similibus Curentur" was vaguely mentioned in the ancient medical literature by various medical authorities like Hippocrates and even Vedas under the division of "Thatharthakari chikitsa", it was Hahnemann who formulated auxiliary principles, conducted a series of experiments and developed it into the complete and scientific system of medicine – Homeopathy.

He wrote all the principles, guidelines and laws of Homoeopathy and published 'Organon Of Medicine' in 1810. This book remains the geetha of Homoeopathy till today and many centuries to come. This book will become guiding force for medical scientists in the future.

The Basic Principles of Homoeopathy

1. A Distinct Science : Homoeopathy considers medical therapeutics, a distinct science. It is not just the product of physics, chemistry, and biology, but a distinct science by itself. It studies the symptoms of the disease and characteristics of drugs and application of medicines for cure of diseases.
2. Vital force : The human organism is a trinity of body, mind and spirit. This spirit, which is responsible for different manifestations of life, is termed by Dr. Hahnemann as the 'vital force'. The body and mind are governed by the subtle body or vital force, which keeps the body growing and healthy. But when this vital force is primarily deranged by some 'morbific dynamic influence', it causes abnormal sensations and functions which are manifested as disease symptoms, and signs, which constitutes the disease. The conception of vital force has given a non materialistic conception of disease to homoeopathic school. This non materialistic approach to the treatment of disease has made Homoeopathy a non injurious and rational art of healing.
3. Symptoms : Totality of symptoms constitutes the disease for all practical purposes in Homoeopathy. Symptomatology is the language of the nature or vital force. It reveals its state, whether healthy or diseased through signs and symptoms of the body and mind. A lot of importance is given to subjective symptoms (what exactly the person feels about sensations and emotions), even though laboratory investigations are not neglected. Because, functional disorder precedes structural changes in the disease process. So, patients can be treated basing on Symptomatology much before the disease brings structural changes in organs of the body. Structural changes (pathology) are definitely a secondary consideration, since these are only product of disease process.
4. ‘Similia Similibus Curentur’ : This is the most fundamental principle upon which, the Homoeopathic system of medicine is built upon. From time to time all through the medical history this hypothesis was enunciated, but it was Hahnemann by his fine observation and the inductive method of reasoning became convinced of this law of cure (similia similibus curentur). He declared it as the universal, basic law of therapeutics or science of healing. This means medicines having the capacity to produce symptoms similar to the disease symptoms are administered to patients in order to eradicate diseases.
5. Doctrine of Drug Proving : This is a completely new method of ascertaining properties of medicinal substances in the most unbiased way. There is no scope for speculation. Drugs are administered to healthy individuals and signs and symptoms are noted at physical and psychological planes. These recordings of drug-proving form the only reliable knowledge of medicines, which are very much essential to cure diseases homoeopathically. No other system of medicine in the world has got this distinctive approach in drug testing.
6. Single Medicine : In the process of proving the medicine's value, they are administered singly. Even in treating the patient also single and simple medicines are given at a time. Polypharmacy or mixing or combining too many medicines is discouraged in Homoeopathy.
7. Minimum Dose : Medicines are administered in minutest doses in Homoeopathy. The smallness of dose does not allow the drug to do any organic damage and there is no risk of any drug addiction and side effects. The law of least action formulated by Maupertius says "The quantity of action necessary to affect any change in nature is the least possible, the decisive amount is always a minimum, an infinitesimal."
8. The Theory of Chronic Diseases : After studying chronic diseases for two decades Hahnemann formulated the theory of chronic diseases. We are able to cure the most inveterate chronic diseases like Allergies, Autoimmune diseases, Migraines etc., with the help of this theory. This theory explains root cause of chronic diseases, hereditary factors in disease generation, (true genetic medicine) and ultimate solutions for eradication of chronic diseases, where by liberating humanity from the clutches of chronic diseases. This kind of permanent treatment is possible only in Homoeopathic system of medicine.
9. The Drug Dynamization : Dynamization or Potentization is unique to Homoeopathic system of medicine. It is a mathematico-mechanical process for reduction, according to scale, of crude inert or poisonous drug substances into a state of physical solubility, physiological assimilability, and therapeutic activity and harmlessness for use as homoeopathic healing remedies. Medicinally inert substances like common salt and most poisonous substances like snake poisons are converted into the most useful homoeopathic remedies with this process.
10. Scientificity : Why is there confusion among some people regarding the scientificity of Homoeopathy? Above the 12th potency material (physically) medicinal substance is not found in the potency, it cannot be detected in a chemical laboratory. Medicinal power is carried by the vehicle. Action of the potencies can be detected only clinically. Thus the modus operandi is not explained to the satisfaction of materialistic minds. Action of high potencies in animals and infants is established beyond any doubt. Some pseudo scientists do argue very adamantly that Homoeo potencies contain no drug molecule so whatever cures are achieved clinically are due to placebo (non medicinal substance acting only due to belief of the patient) effect. They say, this process is not in tune with the Avogadro's law of chemistry. In the due course of time scientists may be able to explain the action of Homoeopathic medicines with help of nano technology and nuclear physics.