Disease is not caused by a separate material thing but from dynamic, spiritual vital force.
Aphorism - 13
"Therefore disease (that does not come within the province of manual surgery) considered, as it is by the allopathists, as a thing separate from the living whole, from the organism and its animating vital force, and hidden in the interior, be it of ever so subtle a character, is an absurdity, that could only be imagined by minds of a materialistic stamp, and has for thousands of years given to the prevailing system of medicine all those pernicious impulses that have made it a truly mischievous (non-healing) art."
Explanatory note:
According to this aphorism, Dr. Hahnemann emphasizes that disease and health are entirely dynamic phenomena, governed by the vital force rather than by any separate material entity. Whether this entity is living or non‑living—including bacteria, viruses, or any other organism—it does not mean that such agents do not exist in the world. Rather, they cannot harm an individual until the vital force has first been deranged in the interior. Consequently, it can be said that bacteria and viruses are not the primary cause of disease, but secondary agents acting upon a susceptible vital force.
However, this principle does not apply to diseases that originate purely in a manual or mechanical way, such as injuries, fractures, or the insertion of foreign bodies like splinters or bullets. Such conditions must be treated mechanically, through surgical intervention. Dr. Hahnemann’s statement in Aphorism 13 therefore opens the door for surgery, acknowledging its necessity in cases where dynamic treatment alone cannot suffice. Thus, homoeopathy does not oppose the role of surgery but rather defines its proper limits—medicine for dynamic disturbances of the vital force, and surgery for mechanical corrections beyond the reach of remedies.
On the other hand, in diseases that are purely of dynamic origin, the attempt to separate and isolate a material cause of disease is nothing but nonsense. Such conditions arise from disturbances of the vital force itself and cannot be explained by attributing them to any external, tangible substance. To regard disease as a separate material entity is a misconception that obscures its true dynamic nature. Dr. Hahnemann described such misguided attempts as a non‑healing art, since they fail to address the vital force—the true seat of health and disease.