What is Torah thinking?

Peace be upon the late Rabbi Shlita.
What did the rabbi mean when he said Da’at Torah? How many times did he mean some conclusion that comes from the halakha and says something about the world (such as kindness is good because the halakha talks about it a lot) or, as the rabbi gave the example of preserving one’s soul, which the halakha states is obligatory to listen to experts, and so on.