Ulrike Hahn
@UlrikeHahn@fediscience.org  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

We have a new paper out on argumentation in agent-based modelling (ABM). ABMs are essential to understanding belief and opinion dynamics in complex systems such as online social networks. But past modelling work has almost universally used only extremely simple models where agents exchange only a single numeric quantity (e.g., an „opinion) to model the dynamics of such systems.

While that is informative, the gross over simplification means that the nature of the observed dynamics differs fundamentally from that seen in real world contexts where we exchange individual arguments for our claims. 1/
Ulrike Hahn
@UlrikeHahn@fediscience.org  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

4/ specifically, we take three interrelated notions of ‘argument’: as a single reason, as a unit comprising premises and a conclusion, and, finally, as a dialectical exchange. We argue that these form interrelated, but separable dimensions of a 3 dimensional argument space, which allows us to locate extant modelling frameworks relative to each other while also providing a tool for thinking about argument in different real world contexts.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11245-025-10215-2
Ulrike Hahn
@UlrikeHahn@fediscience.org  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

5/ Argument “space” as defined by the representational complexity of individual reasons, the inferential complexity of premise-conclusion relations, and the dialectical complexity of the strategies by which agents select arguments

…we hope this work will lead to better modelling choices and greater conceptual clarity in argumentation research more generally. In particular, we hope it will facilitate exchange across “rival” frameworks for thinking about argument by allowing greater clarity on what a given framework does and does not capture

@cogsci @philosophy #epistemology#ABM#ABMs