Dialectic: A central but ambiguous category in philosophy from  Plato through Hegel and Marx to Mao t’se Tung, it is most coherently understood as a heuristic concept modeled on a dialogue in which opposing arguments clash to yield through their conflict a higher unity or synthesis. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time,… Read More

Dialectical/Dialectics: In its simplest terms, dialectics is the study of the norms of reasonable interpersonal or interactive argumentation. It is the study of the argumentation in which the roles of proponent and of opponent of a point of view are assumed and various goals of their interactive communication are considered. Argumentation is dialectical by virtue of… Read More

Dialogical: In argumentation theory, the approaches that take the primary setting for argument as the dialogue or exchange between two or more parties and that seek to formulate rules that govern those exchanges. A completely different concept would be Paolo Friere’s idea of dialogical pedagogy, which focuses on the importance of dialogue between teacher and student.… Read More

Disease prevention: Disease prevention covers measures not only to prevent the occurrence of disease, such as risk factor reduction, but also to arrest its progress and reduce its consequences once established. Reference: adapted from Glossary of Terms used in Health for All series. WHO, Geneva, 1984 Primary prevention is directed towards preventing the initial occurrence of… Read More

Disjunction: A truth-functional sentence formed by connecting two sentences by ‘or’; such sentences are true if and only if at least one of their component disjuncts is true. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy and World Problems, Volume I-III, UNESCO in partnership with Encyclopedia… Read More

Disposition terms: Terms designating entities with tendencies or propensities to behave in certain ways, e.g., magnetic, intelligent. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy and World Problems, Volume I-III, UNESCO in partnership with Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems: Oxford, 2004-11.