Practical First-Order Argumentation

Abstract

There are many frameworks for modelling argumentation in logic. They include a formal representation of individual arguments and techniques for comparing conflicting arguments. A problem with these proposals is that they do not consider arguments for and against first-order formulae. We present a framework for first-order logic argumentation based on argument trees that provide a way of exhaustively collating arguments and counter-arguments. A difficulty with first-order argumentation is that there may be many arguments and counterarguments even with a relatively small knowledgebase. We propose rationalizing the arguments under consideration with the aim of reducing redundancy and highlighting key points. Copyright © 2005, American Association for Artificial Intelligence (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved.