Rationalism: doctrine according to which knowledge is ultimately derived from reason independent of and organizing reality/experience. 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. 

Re-orienting health services: Health services re-orientation is characterized by a more explicit concern for the achievement of population health outcomes in the ways in which the health system is organized and funded. This must lead to a change of attitude and organization of health services, which focuses on the needs of the individual as a… Read More

Reductionism: doctrine according to which complex phenomena are merely the sum of simpler constituents, thereby implying an elimination of subjective experience or choice. 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,… Read More

Reification: To regard an abstraction or concept as a self-subsistent entity; with Platonic reification an hypostasis of what is in common among particulars into an independent entity standing above them as alone ultimate and real. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy and… Read More

Relations of Production: In Marx, the way in which resource ownership and labour control is organized in any society. 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. 

Relativism: A generic term for the view that there are no objective or universal values because all values are by their nature relative to the contingent cultures, preferences, individuals, practices and world-views in which they are embedded. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy… Read More

Religion: May be theist or non-theist, faith or reason based, but religion is always an organized set of ideas seeking to explain the cosmos/universe and humanity’s place in it, the ultimate nature of enlightenment or truth, and good and evil ways of life. See also Morality. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and… Read More

Renaissance: the revival of classical ancient culture in 15th-century Italy and, successively, in Europe, with a new emphasis on human-centered reason and arts. 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. 

Rhetoric: art of persuasion. Often taken to refer to flowery or bombastic prose, or to deceitful persuasion, ‘rhetoric’ is also the name of a serious academic discipline and an important subject matter. The discipline of rhetoric is the study of the norms of effective communication. Classically (starting with Aristotle), rhetoric referred to the art of effective speech-making to… Read More

Right: An individual legal entitlement to pursue one’s private interests. 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.