Dialectics, Dialogue and Argumentation. An Examination of Douglas Walton's Theories of Reasoning

This festschrift is in honour of a leading philosopher of argumentation. His
theories of argument structure, whilst rooted in Aristotelian philosophy, have
been influential in computer science and artificial intelligence. His theories
have a strong empirical side and cover much of how argument and debate is
conducted. They examine how the process of exploring disagreement and reaching
consensus can be structured, and how the 'nuts and bolts' of reasoning in
communication are put together. His theories are increasingly finding
application in computer science, where his approach to commitment based
modelling of dialogue has influenced the design of protocols for
software agents, and his work on argument structure is being used to guide
the development of a new, world-wide argument web.