The hedgehog and the fox An argumentation-based decision support system

Abstract

In this paper, we present a decision support system which is built upon an argumentation framework for practical reasoning. A logic language is used as a concrete data structure for holding statements representing knowledge, goals, and decisions. Different priorities are attached to these items, corresponding to the probability of the knowledge, the preferences between goals, and the expected utilities of decisions. These concrete data structures consist of information providing the backbone of arguments. Due to the abductive nature of practical reasoning, arguments are built by reasoning backwards, and possibly by making suppositions over missing information. Moreover, arguments are defined as tree-like structures. In this way, our computer system, implemented in Prolog, suggests some solutions and provides an interactive and intelligible explanation of this choice.