Argumentative Reasoning Theory: Explanation Aware Knowledge Representation

Argumentative Reasoning Theory (ART) is a theory of knowledge representation, reasoning, explanation, and argument interaction. It is designed to support intelligent human-computer collaboration. ART provides the ability to represent reasoning in a form that is computable, intuitive, and amenable to discovery. By integrating Toulmin’s model of argumentation, Mann and Thompson’s Rhetorical Structure Theory, and Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca’s strategic forms of associative and dissociative reasoning, ART defines an ontology for representing and manipulating of argument structures. Arguments, when satisfied, are instantiated into a dynamic rhetorical network that represents the system’s model of the situation. Two modalities of instantiation are used: inferential instantiation is used when the claim is inferred from the ground; synthetic instantiation is used for descriptive argumentation where both ground and claim must be satisfied for the argument to be instantiated. The instantiation process maps arguments into the network using interaction links. Links are defined for a range interactions, including accrual, concomitance, backing, substantiation, dissociation, rebuttal, undercut, and confusion. Interaction detection may be accomplished using logical, ontological, and inventivedissociative detection. Knowledge discovery is supported through logical and analogical means. Through ontologically normalized representation of argumentative knowledge, it becomes possible to detect the opportunity for analogical discovery.