Contouring of Knowledge for Intelligent Searching for Arguments

A common assumption for logic-based argumentation is that an argument is a pair 〈Φ, α〉 where Φ is a minimal subset of the knowledgebase such that Φ is consistent and Φ entails the claim α. Different logics are based on different definitions for entailment and consistency, and these give us different options for argumentation. For a variety of logics, in particular for classical logic, there is a need to develop intelligent techniques for generating arguments. Since building a constellation of arguments and counterarguments involves repeatedly querying a knowledgebase, we propose a framework based on what we call “contours” for storing information about a knowledgebase that provides boundaries on what is provable in the knowledgebase. Using contours allows for more intelligent searching of a knowledgebase for arguments and counterarguments.