Epistemic Argumentation Framework: Theory and Computation

The paper introduces the notion of an epistemic argumentation framework (EAF) as a means to integrate the beliefs of a reasoner with argumentation. Intuitively, an EAF encodes the beliefs of an agent who reasons about arguments. Formally, an EAF is a pair of an argumentation framework and an epistemic constraint. The semantics of the EAF is defined by the notion of an ω-epistemic labelling set, where ω is complete, stable, grounded, or preferred, which is a set of ω-labellings that collectively satisfies the epistemic constraint of the EAF. The paper shows how EAF can represent different views of reasoners on the same argumentation framework. It also includes representing preferences in EAF and multi-agent argumentation. Finally, the paper discusses complexity issues and computation using epistemic logic programming.

Peer-Disagreement about Restaurant Bills and Abortion

The author defends Conciliationism as a response to peer-disagreement in ethics against a prominent objection: if in cases of peer-disagreement we have to move our credences towards those of our dissenting peers, then we have to adopt scepticism in fields where disagreement between peers abounds. For this objection, the case of ethics is particularly worrisome. The author argues that the objection from scepticism is based on a highly idealised notion of an epistemic peer. In cases of disagreement about ethical issues, it is often unknown to us what another person counts as her evidence, since one’s notions of what counts as evidence and what weight to attach to different forms of evidence are impacted by one’s global outlook. Being aware of what an agent considers as evidence requires familiarity with that agent’s global outlook. This introduces two constraints on epistemic peerhood in cases of disagreement about ethics: an epistemic constraint (I might not be sufficiently aware of what someone counts as evidence, and hence not consider that person a peer), and a factual constraint (we might disregard each other’s evidence, and hence not consider each other peers).

Alternatives as sources of semantic dependency

This paper focuses on the properties of the Romanian determiner 'vreun', and has two objectives. First, it seeks to provide an adequate description of its restricted distribution. Refining previous observations in the literature (Farkas 2002, 2006), I argue that the occurrence of 'vreun' in intensional contexts is sensitive to epistemic alternatives, and put forward a generalization that captures its use (‘the epistemic constraint’). Second, we aim to provide an explanation for the observed pattern, in a way that situates 'vreun' in a broader typology of dependent indefinites. The proposed account is couched in a unified, alternative-based approach to polarity-sensitivity, due to Chierchia (2006 et seq). In line with this theory, we reduce the differences between 'vreun' and other dependent indefinites to essentially two factors: (i) the types of alternatives these items activate and (ii) the way these alternatives are factored into meaning by alternative-sensitive operators. The present paper can be regarded as part of a more general research program which aims to understand the parameters of variation among dependent indefinites and to seek a principled explanation for the attested diversity.

Alternatives as sources of semantic dependency

This paper focuses on the properties of the Romanian determiner 'vreun', and has two objectives. First, it seeks to provide an adequate description of its restricted distribution. Refining previous observations in the literature (Farkas 2002, 2006), I argue that the occurrence of 'vreun' in intensional contexts is sensitive to epistemic alternatives, and put forward a generalization that captures its use (‘the epistemic constraint’). Second, we aim to provide an explanation for the observed pattern, in a way that situates 'vreun' in a broader typology of dependent indefinites. The proposed account is couched in a unified, alternative-based approach to polarity-sensitivity, due to Chierchia (2006 et seq). In line with this theory, we reduce the differences between 'vreun' and other dependent indefinites to essentially two factors: (i) the types of alternatives these items activate and (ii) the way these alternatives are factored into meaning by alternative-sensitive operators. The present paper can be regarded as part of a more general research program which aims to understand the parameters of variation among dependent indefinites and to seek a principled explanation for the attested diversity.