Deipnosophist - one who speaks learnedly at the dinner table; from a work by Athenaeus, Deipnosophistai, written in 228 A.D. Deism - the belief that there is a God whose existence can be apprehended without revelation. Cf. agnosticism, atheism, and theism. Determinism - the theory that all events (including mental ones) are caused, so that whatever happens cannot happen otherwise. Determinism is opposed to the theory of free will, which holds that human choice is active and unconstrained. Dialectic - 1. the art of testing whether assertions are valid or not. 2. In Hegelian philosophy, a kind of logic that proceeds from thesis to antithesis to synthesis. [from the Greek, "pertaining to debate".] Dialectical materialism - in Hegelian and Marxist theory, the view that the world is a material process undergoing stages of unending change. Dogmatism - a theory or belief system unsusceptible to critical questioning and doubt; a dogmatist is one who holds unflinchingly to an idea in the belief that such an idea is infallible. Dualism - 1. a theory opposite to monism, holding that reality consists of two substances (e.g., mind and matter, body and soul). 2. in Platonic metaphysics, the belief that human being consists of soul and body, the latter being a prison in which the formerly all-knowing soul resides. 3. a theory running contrary to monotheism, holding that supernatural reality is of two forms, the one good and the other bad; Manichaenism is one such dualistic religious view. Ecumenism - a movement providing worldwide unity among religions through cooperative understanding. [ecumenical, from the Greek, "of the inhabited world."] Elements - basic components or constituents of things; Aristotle recognized four: fire, water, earth, air.
