The argument has been made that homeopathy works by some, yet unexplained, mechanism. This certainly could be true, but it would be easier to accept if clinical trials could consistently show a difference between homeopathy and placebo. On the other hand, homeopathy does have some good principles that I believe modern medicine could benefit from. The first is that given time, most disease processes will resolve spontaneously without treatment. This is certainly true of colds and viral infections.
Homeopathic doctors believe that antibiotics are harmful and, indeed, sometimes they are.
Our society as a whole would be better off if we would avoid the tendency to put everyone on antibiotics for simple colds. Homeopathy also attempts to treat the whole patient rather than a specific disease. I believe that many times physicians have a tendency to focus on the disease or malfunctioning organ rather than listening to the patient and considering other factors that may be involved. Fortunately, residency programs are actually emphasizing a more holistic approach to the patient than was advocated in the past. Although, science is an integral part of modern medicine, the art of medicine is still exceedingly important.