Classical homeopathy is first and foremost a clinical science concerned with the healing of living beings. As such its main concern is the practice of medicine, in contrast with conventional medicine where theoretical considerations (such as through what mechanism a medication exerts its effect) are primary.
What cannot be explained is nevertheless real
What is important for homeopaths is that their observations correspond with the reality of the clinic rather than with the rational-scientific point of view in which we are taught exclusively to think. This is because many things about people do not make sense rationally but are nevertheless real. This is simply because reason can explain only part of human reality.
For example, we regularly experience symptoms that cannot be explained physiologically, unusual sensations that we find hard to describe without first apologizing that “they do not make sense,” and strange phenomena we have experienced but likewise find embarrassing to tell others (or at least our doctor).
Respecting patients’ experience leads to better treatment
Conventional medical thinking is based on the view that what cannot be explained cannot be addressed, so it regularly excludes many ‘strange’ symptoms that patients complain about. In contrast, homeopaths seek to include all such phenomena in their investigation of the patient, with the goal of fully perceiving the patient’s own life experience rather than imposing an external interpretation of it.
Clearly the first approach has its advantages, and conventional medicine is indispensable under some situations such as emergencies. What homeopathy offers, in contrast, is a system of medicine that respects all of our experiences and successfully integrates them within the homeopathic diagnosis. In this way it is able to deal with medical situations that make no sense to the medical doctor, as well as to cure many conditions which doctors declare as incurable.
At its best, homeopathic treatment can address lifelong spiritual challenges (e.g. self-defeating behaviours), mental-emotional issues (e.g. persistent thoughts or feelings), and constitutional weaknesses (e.g. allergic tendencies from birth).
To read more about the principles of homeopathy, see Overview of Classical Homeopathic Philosophy.