Comparing arguments using preference orderings for argument-based reasoning

Abstract

Argument-based reasoning is a promising approach to handle inconsistent belief bases. The basic idea is to justify each plausible conclusion by acceptable arguments. The purpose of the paper is to enforce the concept of acceptability by the integration of preference orderings. Pursuing previous work on preference-based argumentation, the authors focus on the definition of preference relations for comparing conflicting arguments. They present a comparative study of several proposals. They then propose techniques for computing and comparing arguments, taking advantage of an assumption-based truth maintenance system (ATMS).