Abstract.
We present the syntax and semantics for a multi-agent dialogue game protocol which permits argument over proposals for action. The protocol, called the Persuasive Argument for Multiple Agents (PARMA) Protocol, embodies an earlier theory by the authors of persuasion over action which enables participants to rationally propose, attack, and defend, an action or course of actions (or inaction). We present an outline of both an axiomatic and a denotational semantics, and discuss implementation of the protocol, in the context of both human and artificial agents.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
K. M. Atkinson T. J. M. Bench-Capon P. McBurney (2004) “Attacks on a presumptive argument scheme in multi-agent systems: pre-conditions in terms of beliefs and desires”, Technical Report ULCS-04-015, Department of Computer Science University of Liverpool UK
K. M. Atkinson T. J. M. Bench-Capon P. McBurney (2004) “Computational representation of persuasive argument”, Technical Report ULCS-04-006, Department of Computer Science University of Liverpool UK
K. M. Atkinson T. J. M. Bench-Capon P. McBurney (2004) “Implementation of a dialogue game for persuasion over action”, Technical Report ULCS-04-005, Department of Computer Science University of Liverpool UK
K. M. Atkinson, T. J. M. Bench-Capon, and P. McBurney. “Justifying practical reasoning”. In F. Grasso, C. Reed, and G. Carenini, (eds.), Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Computational Models of Natural Argument (CMNA 2004), Valencia, Spain, pp. 87-90, 2004.
K. M Atkinson T. J. M. Bench-Capon P. McBurney (2004) “Parmenides: Facilitating democratic debate” R. Traunmüller (Eds) Electronic Government 2004, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 3183 Springer Berlin 313–316
K. M. Atkinson, T. J. M. Bench-Capon, and P. McBurney, “Arguing about cases as practical reasoning”, In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law (ICAIL 2005). ACM Press, New York, USA. In Press.
K. M. Atkinson T. J. M. Bench-Capon S. Modgil (2005) “Value added: Processing information with argumentation”, Technical Report ULCS-05-004, Department of Computer Science University of Liverpool UK
T. J. M. Bench-Capon (2003) ArticleTitle“Persuasion in practical argument using value based argumentation frameworks” J. Logic Comput. 13 IssueID3 429–48 Occurrence Handle10.1093/logcom/13.3.429
R-J. Beun R.M. Eijk Particlevan (2004) “A co-operative dialogue game for resolving ontological discrepancies” F. Dignum (Eds) Advances in Agent Communication, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 2922 Springer Berlin, Germany 349–363
P. M. Dung (1995) ArticleTitle“On the acceptability of arguments and its fundamental role in nonmonotonic reasoning, logic programming and n-person games” Artif Intelligence 77 321–357 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0004-3702(94)00041-X
P. E. Dunne T. J. M. Bench-Capon (2004) “Identifying audience preferences in legal and social domains” F. Galindo M. Takizawa R. Traunmüller (Eds) Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Database and Expert Systems Applications (DEXA 2004), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 3180 Springer Verlag Berlin, Germany 518–527
P. Gárdenfors (1994) “The role of expectations in reasoning” M. Masuch L. Pólos (Eds) Knowledge Representation and Reasoning under Uncertainty: Logic at Work, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 808 Springer Berlin, Germany 1–16
R.Goldblatt, “Topoi: The Categorial Analysis of Logic. North-Holland”, Amsterdum, The Netherlands, 1979.
T. F. Gordon (1994) ArticleTitle“The pleadings game: An exercise in computational dialectics” Artif. Intelligence and Law. 2 239–292 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00871972
K.M. Greenwood, T.J.M. Bench-Capon, and P.M. McBurney. “Towards a computational account of persuasion in law”, In Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on AI and Law (ICAIL-2003), New York, NY, USA, 2003. ACM Press, pp. 22-31, 2003.
J. Habermas (1996) Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy MIT Press Cambridge, MA, USA
C. L. Hamblin (1970) Fallacies Methuen London, UK
H. Kamp U. Reyle (1993) From Discourse to Logic: Introduction to Modeltheoretic Semantics of Natural Language, Formal Logic and Discourse Representation Theory, vol. 2 Kluwer Academic Dordrecht, The Netherlands
Y. Labrou T. Finin Y. Peng (1999) ArticleTitle“Agent communication languages: The current landscape” IEEE Intelligent Syst 14 IssueID2 45–52 Occurrence Handle10.1109/5254.757631
M. Luck P. McBurney C. Preist (2003) Agent Technology: Enabling Next Generation Computing. A Roadmap for Agent Based Computing AgentLink II Southampton, UK
P. McBurney S. Parsons (2002) ArticleTitle“Games that agents play: A formal framework for dialogues between autonomous agents” J. Logic, Lang Inf. 11 IssueID3 315–334
P. McBurney and S. Parsons. “A denotational semantics for deliberation dialogues”, In N. R. Jennings, C. Sierra, E. Sonenberg, and M. Tambe, (eds.), Proceedings of the 3rd International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS 2004), pp. 86-93, 2004.
N. Oren, T. Norman, A. Preece, and S. Chalmers, “Policing virtual organisations. In C. Ghidini, P. Giorgini, and W. van der Hoek, (eds.),Proceedings of the 2nd European Conference on Multi Agent Systems (EUMAS 2004), Barcelona, Spain, pp. 499-508, 2004.
C. Perelman L. Olbrechts-Tyteca (1969) The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, IN, USA
D. Raven (1996) ArticleTitle“The enculturation of logical practice” Configurations 3 381–425 Occurrence HandleMR1470098
H. S. Richardson (1994) Practical Reasoning about Final Ends Cambridge University Press Cambridge, UK
J. R. Searle (2001) Rationality in Action MIT Press Cambridge, MA, USA
C. Sierra N.R. Jennings P. Noriega S. Parsons (1998) “A framework for argument based negotiation” A. Rao M. Singh M. Wooldridge (Eds) Intelligent Agents IV, Lecture Notes in Artificial Inteligence 1365 Springer Berlin ,Germany 177–192
V. Tamma, I. Blacoe, B. Lithgow-Smith, and M. Wooldridge. “Serse: Searching for semantic web content”, In Proceedings of the 16th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI-04), Valencia, Spain, 2004.
V. A. M. Tamma and T. J. M. Bench-Capon. “A conceptual model to facilitate knowledge sharing in multi-agent systems. In Proceedings of Autonomous Agents 2001 Workshop on Ontologies in Agent Systems (OAS 2001), Montreal, Canada, pp. 69-76, 2001.
R. D. Tennent, Semantics of Programming Languages, Prentice-Hall: Hemel Hempstead, UK, 1991.
S.E. Toulmin (1976) Knowing and Acting: An Invitation to Philosophy Macmillan New York, NY, USA
D. N. Walton (1998) The New Dialectic: Conversational Contexts of Argument University of Toronto Press Toronto, Ontario, Canada
D. N. Walton E. C. W. Krabbe (1995) Commitment in Dialogue: Basic Concepts of Interpersonal Reasoning SUNY Press Albany, NY, USA
M. J. Wooldridge (2000) Reasoning about Rational Agents MIT Press Cambridge, MA, USA
T. Yuan (2004) Human Computer Debate a Computational Dialectics Approach PhD thesis Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds UK
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Atkinson, K., Bench-Capon, T. & Mcburney, P. A Dialogue Game Protocol for Multi-Agent Argument over Proposals for Action. Auton Agent Multi-Agent Syst 11, 153–171 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10458-005-1166-x
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10458-005-1166-x