Normative Practical Reasoning via Argumentation and Dialogue

In a normative environment an agent’s actions are not only directed by its goals but also by the norms imposed on it. However, the potential conflicts within and between the agent’s goals and norms makes decision-making in these frameworks a challenging task. The questions we address in this paper are: (i) how should an agent act in a normative environment? (ii) how can the agent explain why it acted in a certain way? We propose a solution in which a normative planning problem serves as the basis for a practical reasoning approach based on argumentation. The properties of the best plan(s) with respect to goal achievement and norm compliance are mapped to arguments that are used to explain why a plan is justified, using an existing proof dialogue game.