Goal-based reasoning for argumentation Douglas Walton

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Introduction to practical reasoning -- 2. Practical reasoning in health product ads -- 3. Formal and computational systems of practical reasoning -- 4. Practical reasoning in arguments and explanations -- 5. Explanations, motives, and intentions -- 6. Practical argumentation in deliberation dialogue -- 7. Goal-based argumentation in different types of dialogue -- 8. Practical and epistemic rationality.

"This book provides an argumentation model for means-end reasoning, a distinctive type of reasoning used for problem-solving gand decision-making. Means-end reasoning is modeled as goal-directed argumentation from an agent's goals and known circumstances, and from an action selected as a means, to a decision to carry out the action. Goal-based reasoning for argumentation provides an argumentation model for this kind of reasoning, showing how it is employed in settings of intelligent deliberation where agents try to collectively arrive at a conclusion on what they should do to move forward in a set of circumstances. The book explains how this argumentation model can help build more realistic computational systems of deliberation and decision-making and shows how such systems can be applied to solve problems posed by goal-based reasoning in numerous fields, from social psychology and sociology, to law, political science, anthropology, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, multi-agent systems, and robotics." -- Back cover.