Monday 25 February 2008

debatepedia.com

A more informative, objective and academic approach to online debate and argumentation, imposing greater structure and rules on contributors and contributions. Check it out here.

convinceme.net

Great idea and setup for fun competitive online arguing and debating, based on taking sides, voting and points accumulation. Check it out here.

Monday 11 February 2008

40, The Problem of Retraction in Critical Discussion

Contents of 'The Problem of Retraction in Critical Discussion' (2001), by Erik C. W. Krabbe

In many contexts a retraction of commitment is frowned upon... But on the other hand, the very goal of critical discussion - resolution of a dispute - involves a retraction, either of doubt, or of some expressed point of view...

1, The Problem

2, Ingredients for a Solution

(i) Among the rules of dialogue there must be a number of retraction rules that determine, in each dialogical situation, which retractions are permissible...

(ii) If a retraction is permissible the rule should stipulate what, exactly, are the consequences of the retraction...

(iii) ... there must be different stipulations for different types of dialogue.

(iv) ... Retraction rules should take into account the type of persuasion dialogue in which they are to function...

(v) Even within one type of dialogue, there is a need for distinct retraction rules for each type of commitment that occurs within dialogues of that type...

(vi) Another distinction between types of commitment is that between light-side and dark-side commitments...

(vii) ... have a number of different models of dialogue for different types and situations...

(viii) ... it is advisable, in model construction, to make retraction just a bit costly. As was noted above, one might stipulate that retractions lead to further retractions...

3, A Survey of Commitment Types and Constraints on Retraction
- Assertions
- Concessions (Presumptions, Fixed Concessions, Free Concessions)

4, On how to run the hare and hunt with the hounds

Friday 8 February 2008

39, The Eightfold Way of Deliberation Dialogue

Contents of 'The Eightfold Way of Deliberation Dialogue' (2007), Peter McBurney, David Hitchcock, Simon Parsons

"Deliberation dialogues occur when two or more participants seek to jointly agree on an action or a course of action in some situation..."

1, Introduction

2, Deliberation Dialogues

3, A Formal Model of Deliberations

The following types of sentences are defined: Actions, Goals, Constraints, Perspectives, Facts, Evaluations

The presented formal dialogue model consists of eight stages: Open, Inform, Propose, Consider, Revise, Recommend, Confirm, Close

4, Locutions for a Deliberation Dialogue Protocol

The permissible locutions in the dialogue game are as follows: open_dialogue, enter_dialogue, propose, assert, prefer, ask_justify, move, reject, retract, withdraw_dialogue

5, Example

6, Assessment of the DDF Protocol: Human Dialogues, Deliberation Process, Deliberation Outcomes

7, Discussion: Contribution, Related Work, Future Research

8, Appendix: Axiomatic Semantics