It comes from the Latin dialogus which means rational discourse, science of discourse. When thinking about the value of this word, a description comes to mind: the conversation between two or more people; however, if we look at its etymology we find that for the ancient Greeks this word referred to: The prefix – dia = “through” , “different directions” –. – Logos = Greek word that has several shades of meaning: Logos is a word that when meditated, reflected or reasoned can be translated in various ways: speech , word , reasoning , argumentation , discourse and instruction; it can also be understood as: “intelligence” , “thought” , “sense” or “knowledge” –.

 

The word dialogue could be said to have a meaning of union between people. It is also contrasted with the word devil , which comes from the Greek diábolos , – dia = “through” –, – blo = ballo = ballein = “to throw” , “to throw lies” , “to throw some people against others” , whose etymological meaning is that it throws something through, therefore it separates or divides, creates hatred or anger, envy, slander, etc.

 

Hence the name “the devil's bridges” , which refer to several dozen ancient bridges from the Middle Ages and, according to popular tradition, were built by the devil – with his help or against his wishes – to connect two impossible points between large mountains or the sides of a large river. These bridges, due to their difficult construction, collapsed repeatedly until they finally managed to establish such a connection, hence the expression: “the architect had made a pact with the devil” .

 

Therefore, the use of dialogue creates a union, a bridge of communication between people through the use of words , reasoning and discourse. Dialogue eliminates the function of separation, it builds union and the search for something.

 

For example, saying that Socrates conceived philosophical knowledge as an exchange of ideas, in which two or more people reason with one goal: to get closer to the truth, he based himself on two dialectical procedures: irony and maieutics; through irony he raised uncomfortable questions and through maieutics he was "bringing to light" the knowledge of his interlocutor.

 

Today, in the therapeutic dimension, dialogue becomes a search for something: an agreement or pact between the interlocutors, spiritual consolation for the sufferer and a new project or a path of wisdom.