Explanations and arguments based on practical reasoning
Douglas Walton · 2009
Abstract. In this paper a representative example is chosen that is meant be fairly simple for illustrating the point that in a very com-mon kind of instance, argument and explanation are mixed in together in a text of discourse. The example is a short text found on the Inter-net that explains to the reader how to attach a flagpole bracket to the vinyl siding on the side of your house. The example uses practical rea-soning (goal-directed reasoning) of a kind widely studied in AI and logic. While the text appears to be mainly a “how-to ” explanation, it also con-tains argumentation woven into it, as shown by applying argumentation schemes (defeasible argument structures) representing common forms of argument. The problem is one of distinguishing between explanation and argument. 1 The Nature of the Problem One of the most elementary problems in defining the concept of an explanation is to provide criteria to distinguish clearly (in particular cases) the difference