State of disposition/emotional state

[David Little]

Hello,

There has been a discussion between Piet and myself about the German
term: Gumuetzustand, which is found in aphorism 211. Piet was emphasizing
Boericke's translation of the term as "state of the disposition" while the
modern O'Reilly translation uses the term "emotional state". Vide aphorism
211.

"This preeminent importance of the emotional state hold good to such
an extent that the patient's emotional state often tips the scales in the
selection of the homoeopathic remedy. This is a decidedly peculiar signs
which, among all the signs of diseases, can least remain hidden from the
exactly observing physician." (Page 197)

Gumeutzustand is translated here as: Gumuet/emotional + zustand/state =
emotional state. This could refer to an innate as well as temporary
psychic condition depending on the circumstances. I believe that Boericke's
translation leaves out the emotional quality associated with the Gumuet,
which is the emotional nature or emotional disposition. There is the term
Geistzustand (mental-state or state of mind, intellect, reasoning
associated with the brain) as well as Gumuetzustand (emotional state,
feelings or state of the emotional disposition associated with the heart?).
Germans often speak of their Geist and Gumuet when speaking of all of their
psyche as their is no one word for mind in German like English. They often
speak of the mind as a functional polarity of complementary opposites.
Functional polarities of this type are a common feature of the work of
Goethe and Jung and are found in the Organon.

I have already stated that Hahnemann spoke of the need to study the
"character" of the Geist (intellect) and Gumuet (emotional nature,
emotional disposition, etc.) in aphorism 5, which definitely stresses the
need to make a complete psychological profile. The use of the term
*character * certainly implies more than a passing mood. Nevertheless, the
differences in these translations (Boericke vs O'Reilly) shows that one
cannot use one English term, word, or aphorism to explain a complete idea.
Could the German speaking individuals on this list offer some background,
derivations, translation, and ancient and modern usages of
*Gumuetzustand*? It seems that Hahnemann "may" be stressing the emotional
nature and feeling tones.

Thank you, David
---------------
"It is the life-force which cures diseases because a dead man needs no more
medicines."

Samuel Hahnemann

Visit our website on Hahnemannian Homoeopathy and Cyberspace Homoeopathic
Academy at
http://www.simillimum.com
David Little © 2000

[Peter Quenter]

Hello all -

At 00:24 12/08/2001, you wrote:
Yes, I would very much agree with your descriptions, David -

Maybe to get a feeling (no pun intended for the meaning of the word ... :
It's Christmas time coming up -
so imagine you had a tough and busy day, you come home, it's snowing, the wind
is blowing cold, ice on the windows, and you make yourself a cup of hot
tee/hot chocolate/
whatever ... , meanwhile your spouse arrives home, too, and gets the
fireplace going,
you get out of your work clothes and dress comfortably, now tea is ready,
the fire is
crackling and warming the room, you both snuggle together on the couch in front
of the fire-place, have your hot drinks, listen to good music, and relax
from the day ...

Now that is what would feel *gemuetlich* to most people !
in English one might use the word 'comfortable'/ or better -
comfy/cosy/snug/ ...

The word 'Gemuet' with capital 'G' could be said to refer to the
'thing' that 'makes'/'enables'/'causes'/
'is the seat of' such feelings -

'Emotion' comes close, as it generally are emotions that we would consider
such feelings
to be, yet, 'emotion' in some ways also may imply a somewhat more precise
definition of
*a* emotion - such as 'anger', 'fear', 'sadness' etc ...
whereas the word 'Gemuet' may have a more vague and less intellectually defined
range of possible meanings -
thus a *person* can be a 'gemuetliche' person - by virtue/nature of their
character
being of a kind of 'cosy'/'comfy'/kind/gentle/relaxing/ type of 'Gemuet' -

So, all in all, yes, I read and understand Hahnemann to refer to these
aspects of the
symptom picture that one perceives when taking a case -
in the excellent article (which I think is unfortunately very much
neglected in probably most
courses of homoeopathic study, and which I highly recommend to read!! )
on
'The Spirit of the Homoeopathic Doctrine' in Hahnemann's Materia Medica Pura,
he gives us a quasi-kind-of definition of what 'disease' is - and does so
repeatedly!
I may translate freely ...:
'....... alteration of functions, feelings, sensations in the Vital Force
from it's normal
way of functioning, feeling, sensing ... *which we term disease* .... '
(emphasis mine)
(I would say this article actually summarizes very well the main concepts
and principles
in Homoeopathic Philosophy! It has become a 'must-read' for all our students )

Anyway, so then in the Organon Hahnemann refers to the 'Gemuet' as being
one of the important
aspects to consider in taking a case - and in treating *disease* -
So, what needs to be considered in treating disease is everything that has
changed/
been altered since the disease! all the functions, feelings, sensations
that are altered from their
normal 'state' of being - (I give no definition of the word 'state' as I
think different people
will define these kind of words differently, and none is necessarily right
or wrong as such ) -
and Hahnemann goes on to say in various places, that the only way we can
perceive
those alterations, is by the symptoms that manifest because of them...... !

To translate '...zustand' with 'state' is fine with me -
'state of being', 'how the person feels at the moment', the person's
'internal condition',
'state of the disposition' at the time .... we know what is meant anyway -
(Hahnemann more than once expresses his exasperation at his students'
requests for
exact definitions and explanations of how Homoeopathy works and what the
Vital Force is and so on ... !!
regards many aspects of 'Homoeopathy', the 'Dynamis', the Vital Force,
he was as much at a loss to do so as we are today ! He had to grapple with
words and concepts
to come up with some kind of terms and explanations just as we grapple
today when
someone asks us '...can you explain Homoeopathy to me, please, how does it
really work,
what do the remedies do?!!? '

According to Hahnemann's own words disease is of dynamic nature and
invisible, and so is
the Vital Force - we cannot look inside and see how it works and what and
why - we can only
observe symptoms and take a case -

Ok, so 'Gemuetszustand' -
sometimes it may be appropriate to not define a word into
one rigid definition, as David says one word is sometimes not enough,
but to allow a general sense of what it means
= the emotions of a person as they are at the time, the feelings
and 'disposition' emotionally, a person's inner 'state of being' at the
time, etc ...
all of that comes close -

and yes, it can change!!
'Gemuetszustand' is not what some may refer to as the 'personality-type', or
'constitutional type' !!
To refer to that, one would more likely use just the word 'Gemuet' in some
context -
for example, the 'gemuetliche' person, could possibly be of such 'Gemuet'
all the time
by their very nature -
but then we get into a whole a other discussion on the vaguities of the
term 'constitution' .........

hmmm....
don't know why this post got so long ..........

best
peter quenter

[Rosemary Hyde]

Thank you, Peter. I found your deconstruction of gemuetzustand very helpful
in understanding the word more in depth. Rosemary C. Hyde, Ph.D.

[David Little]

At 09:14 AM 12/10/2001 -0500, you wrote:
Dear Peter,

Thank you very much for the "state of being" comment, etc.. I really
appreciate you taking the time to let the post get so long! The terms Geist
and Gemuet have aspects that don't really come across in the word "mind".
Geist has spiritual aspect in the sense of the sensible spirit that has
consciousness, intelligence, intellect and brain and sensorium. The Gemeut
is more connected to emotions, feeling tones, and the sensations associated
traditionally with the heart. Boenninghausen pointed out this functional
polarity and said that they are mutually interdependent but not identical.
Modern English-German dictionaries don't really stress this out but the
writings of the 19th century homoeopaths pointed this out.

Sincerely, David
---------------
"It is the life-force which cures diseases because a dead man needs no more
medicines."

Samuel Hahnemann

Visit our website on Hahnemannian Homoeopathy and Cyberspace Homoeopathic
Academy at
http://www.simillimum.com
David Little © 2000