Explanations and Arguments Based on Practical Reasoning

In this paper a representative example is chosen that is meant be fairly simple for illustrating the point that in a very common kind of instance, argument and explanation are mixed in together in a text of discourse. The example is a short text found on the Internet that explains to the reader how to attach a flagpole bracket to the vinyl siding on the side of your house. The example uses practical reasoning (goal-directed reasoning) of a kind widely studied in AI and logic. While the text appears to be mainly a "how-to" explanation, it also contains argumentation woven into it, as shown by applying argumentation schemes (defeasible argument structures) representing common forms of argument. The problem is one of distinguishing between explanation and argument. 1 The Nature of the Problem One of the most elementary problems in defining the concept of an explanation is to provide criteria to distinguish clearly (in particular cases) the difference between an argument and an e...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2009
• Where: EXACT
• Authors: Douglas Walton
• Keywords: Applied Computing, Defeasible Argument Structures, EXACT 2009, Explanation, Rational Argument