The first part of this paper presents a coalition formation method for multi-agent systems which finds a Pareto optimal solution without aggregating the preferences of the agents. This protocol is adapted to problems requiring coordination by coalition formation, where it is undesirable, or not possible, to aggregate the preferences of the agents. The second part proposes an extension of this m...

The increasing complexity of construction, along with its rapid development, as well as ambiguities and gaps in the legal terms governing constructions, lack of trust in the parties regarding obligations and regulations are the main reasons of disagreements in domestic projects. These disagreements are inevitable even in contracts which are set correctly. Disagreements are costly, time-consumin...

How do disagreements between judges on collegial (multimember) courts affect legal policy? We address this question by developing an account of the nature of judicial disagreements in the case-space model of judicial choice. We distinguish between different types of disagreement, from disagreements about case facts to disagreements about how legal rules should treat varying case facts, and cons...

This paper introduces an enhancement to the particle swarm optimization algorithms that models a characteristic of social groups: the disagreements between individuals. After a short introduction, we describe the new concept theoretically and define a special type of particle swarm optimization with disagreements: the 6σ-PSOD. Based on it, we conduct some tests proving that it can perform bette...

Research has suggested that evaluators vary in the extent to which they interpret the challenges they face in ethical terms. The question of what accounts for these differences was explored through a survey completed by 391 individuals listed in the database of the American Evaluation Association. The first section of the questionnaire presented scenarios of evaluators in situations with potent...

This paper addresses the general problem of how to rationally choose an algorithm for phylogenetic inference. Specifically, the controversy between maximum likelihood (ML) and maximum parsimony (MP) perspectives is reframed within the philosophical issue of theory choice. A Kuhnian approach in which rationality is bounded and value-laden is offered and construed through the notion of a Style of...