Dialectical argumentation to solve conflicts in advice giving a case study in the promotion.pdf

Dialectical argumentation to solve con icts in advice giving: acase study in the promotion of healthy nutritionFloriana Grasso and Alison CawseyDepartment of Computing andElectrical EngineeringHeriot Watt UniversityRiccarton, Edinburgh EH14 1AS, Scotlandf oriana,alisong@cee.hw.ac.uk Ray JonesDepartment of Public HealthUniversity of Glasgow2, Lilybank GardensGlasgow G12 8RZ, Scotlandr.b.jones@udcf.gla.ac.ukAbstractCon ict situations do not only arise from misunderstandings, erroneous perceptions, partial knowledge, falsebeliefs etc, but also from dierences in \opinions and in the dierent agents value systems. It is not alwayspossible, and maybe not even desirable, to \solve this kind of con ict, as the sources are subjective. Thecommunicating agents can, however, use knowledge of the opponents preferences, to try and convince thepartner of something. To deal with these situation requires an argumentative capacity, able to handle notonly \demonstrative arguments but also \dialectic ones, which may not be necessarily based on rationalityand valid premises. This paper presents a formalization of a theory of informal argumentation, focused ontechniques to change attitudes of the interlocutor, in the domain of health promotion.1. IntroductionCon ict is generally dened as a situation in which two agents (or the same agent in case of internalcon ict) hold dierent and incompatible goals (Castelfranchi 1996; Easterbrook et al. 1993). There isless agreement on how con icts can be solved and what the actual reasons are of the dierence betweenthe agents goals. Acknowledging discordant beliefs seems to be the most common approach (Gallier1992; Chu-Carrol Carberry 1996; Sycara 1988; Reed Long 1997a; Yang 1992): misconceptions,misunderstandings, incomplete knowledge all contribute in creating contrasting goals.The con icts can be solved, if the hypothesis is that the two agents are cooperative, by means of theconversation, enlightening and manifesting the erroneous beliefs a