Modeling practical reasoning

Modeling practical reasoning

Knowledge modeling perspectives on knowledge acquisition suggest that it is reasonable to analyze knowledge bases as collections of models. This paper focuses on those parts of the knowledge base that model the practical reasoning processes of human experts, and asks what properties those models might be expected to have. It surveys the general notion of a model and its connotations in informat...

Normative Practical Reasoning

1. Instrumental reasoning. Aristotle identified practical reasoning as reasoning that concludes in an act, and he was thinking of a non-mental act such as tasting food. But reasoning is a mental process, which takes place in the reasoner's mind. Its conclusion must be a mental state or a mental event; it cannot be a non-mental act. I therefore identify practical reasoning as reasoning that conc...

Practical Reasoning and Rationality

Value-based Practical Reasoning

CRRAR Surely one of the most important contributions of Trevor Bench-Capon to computer science, and especially to artificial intelligence and law, and for that matter to argumentation theory and cognitive science generally, is the model of value-based practical reasoning he has given us. He introduced value-based argumentation frameworks (VAF's) in (Bench-Capon, 2002; Bench-Capon, 2002a; Bench-...

Justifying Practical Reasoning

In this paper we discuss arguments embodying practical reasoning — arguments as to what it is sensible for someone to do in a given situation. We draw attention to differences between practical reasoning and reasoning about beliefs, and suggest that practical arguments should be treated as a species of presumptive reasoning, best handled using argumentation schemes and associated critical quest...