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CFP: JURIX 2012

June 1, 2012 by SP

Call for Papers: JURIX 2012

http://conference.jurix.nl/2012/cfp.html

The 25th International Conference on Legal Knowledge and Information Systems
University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 17-19th December 2012

Celebrating 25 years of supporting and enhancing cutting edge research in the interface between law and computer technology, the 2012 JURIX  conference will return to its roots in Amsterdam. We invite submission of original papers on the advanced management of legal information and knowledge, covering foundations, methods, tools, systems and applications for the following (non-exhaustive) list of topics: Continue Reading »

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Special Issue of Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric on Argument and Computation Now Available

May 29, 2012 by SP

RAIL is pleased to recommend the Special Issue of Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric on Argument and Computation.

If, for some reason, you’re not yet paying attention to the things that are happening in the computation-based wing of argumentation theory, let me ever-so-humbly suggest that you should be. The excellent work being done in this area integrates not only key insights from mainstream contemporary argumentation theory but key insights from the ever-developing field of non-monotonic logic too.  Well and truly gone are the days when, as applied to logic, ‘formal’ meant ‘classical’.  This is truly exciting stuff.  Those with no background in the overlap between argumentation and computation may wish to begin with Chris Reed and Marcin Kosowy’s excellent introduction.  Following that, I would recommend Doug Walton’s article, “How to Refute an Argument in Artificial Intelligence” and Marcin Lewinsky’s article too as being particularly friendly to those whose background is heavier in argumentation and/or dialectics (per the Walton-Krabbe model) than in computation as next steps.

This issue is special in that it shows the relevance of computational approaches to nearly every branch of argumentation theory. To look at what some would consider extremes, for example, formal logic is represented in Kazimierz Trzęsicki’s excellent treatment of the problem of argument classification, but so is rhetoric in the article by Katarzyna Budzyńska and Magdalena Kacprzak, that represents the latest extension of their work at the time of this writing.

It is timely too. For those who have an interest in the way that argumentation is carried out through the medium of the internet this issue will be very useful indeed. The aforementioned article by Lewinsky covers this ground as does the article by Karolina Stefanowicz.  Those interested in contemporary pragma-dialetctics will also find much to pique their interest here, especially the article by the team of Jacky Visser, Floris Bex, Chris Reed and Bart Garssen.

Though of course the computational wing of argumentation theory is established and thriving in departments all over the world, I think this issue of Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric also shows the variety of good things that are happening in what is becoming the vibrant argumentation theory community of Warsaw. We should all be paying attention.

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CFP: Critical Thinking in Higher Education

May 25, 2012 by SP

Proposed New Book: Critical Thinking in Higher Education

Contributions are invited for an edited collection of papers for a book on the topic Critical Thinking in Higher Education,to be edited by Emeritus Professor Ronald Barnett (Institute of Education, University of London), Emeritus Professor Robert H. Ennis (University of Illinois), and Associate Professor Martin Davies (University of Melbourne).

Papers should be submitted by December 31st 2012. Please note that abstracts for papers (400 words maximum) should be sent to the editors for consideration first (see Submission Procedure below).

The book will include a number of previously published papers and original, previously un­published papers. Submissions can be comparative reviews, conceptual studies, empirically-based papers, reflective case studies or offer theoretical contributions. The book will combine new papers, commissioned articles, and excerpts from seminal papers in the field.

Contributions for the proposed book can cover, but are not limited to, the following areas: Continue Reading »

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CFP: Third International Conference in Logic, Argumentation, and Critical Thinking

May 25, 2012 by SP

Dates:  January 8-11, 2013 at Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile
The Third International Conference of Logic, Argumentation and Critical Thinking is a new academic effort of our Centre to continue what began in January 2008 and continued in October 2010, the first and second Conferences respectively. Just as with the first two Conferences, which brought together researchers from Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Spain, The Netherlands, United States, and Uruguay, in this third Conference we are not only trying to deepen and update the production of knowledge in the fields that this conference covers, but we are also trying to contribute to a positive valuation of different proposals that develop critical thinking and promote well-reasoned social debate.This Conference, organized by the Centre for the Study of Argumentation and Reasoning (CEAR) of the Faculty of Psychology at Diego Portales University, aims to generate tools, approaches and solutions to apply in those fields in which the uses of reason is fundamental: communication, law, education, etc. We do not have an official theoretical position, choosing instead to value the diversity of angles and proposals. We invite those in the scientific international community working in the topics of the Conference to participate and share in the body of knowledge, experience and current challenges it represents.

Official languages of the Conference: Spanish and English.

Aims

  • To learn about and spread the development and applications of logic, argumentation theory and critical thinking.
  • To share tools and strategies to improve the processes of teaching in the realm of critical thinking.
  • To stimulate academic and institutional exchanges.

Call for papers

The organizing committee invites proposal for papers in logic, informal logic, argumentation theory, rhetoric, critical thinking.

ABSTRACTS prepared for blind refereeing must be submitted electronically no later than September 30, 2012, to Cristián Santibáñez: cristian.santibanez@udp.cl

Abstracts should be between 200 and 250 words long, in APA format.
Keynote Speakers

Johan van Bentham
University of Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Elvira Narvaja de Arnaux
University of Buenos Aires
Argentina

Christopher Tindale
University of Windsor
Canada

Conference Website: http://www.cear.udp.cl/conferencia/2012/index_en.html

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CFP: ExaCt 2012

May 17, 2012 by SP

  SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS                

for the 7th International and ECAI 2012 Workshop on

EXPLANATION-AWARE COMPUTING (ExaCt 2012)

One-Day Workshop, 27 or 28 August 2012, Montpellier, France
http://exact2012.workshop.hm

** Submission deadline: May 28, 2012 **

When knowledge-based systems are partners in interactive socio-
technical processes, with incomplete and changing problem descriptions,
effective communication between human and software system is vital.
Explanations exchanged between human agents and software agents may
play a key role in such mixed-initiative problem solving. For
example, explanations may increase the confidence of the user in
specific results or in the system as a whole, by providing evidence of
how the results were derived. AI research has also focused on
how computer systems can themselves use explanations, for example to
guide learning. Continue Reading »

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CFP: CLIMA XIII: Computational Logic in Multi-Agent Systems, Montpellier (France), 27-28 Aug 2012

May 14, 2012 by SP

CALL FOR PAPERS

13th International Workshop on Computational Logic in Multi-Agent Systems [CLIMA XIII]

Special sessions on:

*  Logics for Multi-Agent Programming
*  Logics for Agreement Technologies

http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~michael/clima2012.htm

Affiliated with ECAI 2012
Montpellier, France, August 27-28, 2012

Submission deadline: 28th May

Proceedings: LNCS/LNAI volume (available at the workshop).

JLC Special Issue: Selected extended papers will be published in a Special Issue of the Journal of Logic and Computation.

The purpose of the CLIMA Workshop Series is to provide a forum for discussing techniques, based on computational logic, for representing, programming and reasoning about agents and multi-agent systems in a formal way. Continue Reading »

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Post Doc Postion in Argumentation and Explanation

May 10, 2012 by SP

The Scrutable Autonomous Systems (SAsSy) project aims to enable the scrutiny of autonomous systems by allowing agents to generate plans through argument and dialogue, while justifying the purpose of each step within the joint plan. Humans or agent can then critique these plans by suggesting and justifying alternative courses of actions as needed, thus driving the planning process. In this way, a scrutable autonomous system can allow for both the collaborative generation of a plan, and for its simultaneous verification.

To achieve its goals, the SAsSy project seeks a post-doctoral researcher who will investigate argumentation and dialogue based approaches to generate, represent and reason about plans, factoring in explicit norms and goals. Argumentation provides a natural way of explaining the rationale for decisions and their justifications, while dialogue will allow for their incremental generation and modification. Continue Reading »

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Graduate course on Reasoning, one week intensive, Lund, Autumn 2012

May 5, 2012 by SP

Below are a few details about an intensive graduate course on reasoning to be held over one week at Lund University in Sweden.  Credits earned will be transferable, and there is a possibility that help with accommodations may be made available.

LUND UNIVERSITY
Reasoning, 7,5 ECTS
Lecturer: Frank Zenker
Course dates: One week (Mo-Fr 10-12 and 14-16) in autumn 2012. Enter your date preferences now:
http://www.doodle.com/8r8b6vaxbaqnt7iq
If you would like to take this course please get in touch with the instructor now. E-mail & webpage

Course description
The study of reasoning—deductive, inductive, abductive, belief revision, defeasible, cross cultural, conversational, argumentative—is a major focus of investigation in both psychology and philosophy. Next to more traditional issues arising from the rationality debate, this includes a focus on fallacious reasoning and its reduction through education, the development of pragmatics, and the study of human reasoning process through neuro-imaging techniques.

Aim: The aim of this course is to enable learners to orient themselves in this research area (which may reasonably be called interdisciplinary) to the extent that they can actively participate in current empirical research and discourse on this matter.
We will work through select parts of a recently compiled selection of “classics” from a reader by Adler and Rips (2008). The three major themes are: 1. Foundations of Reasoning (Philosophical Viewpoints; Fallacies and Rationality), 2. Modes of Reasoning (Deductive Reasoning; Induction; Dual and Integrative Approaches; Abduction and Belief change; Causal and Counterfactual Reasoning; Argumentation); 3. Interactions of Reasoning in Human Thought (Reasoning and Pragmatics; domain-specific, Goal Based, and Evolutionary Approaches; Reasoning and Cultures; Biology, Emotions, and Reasoning).

Workload/Grading: Successful completion requires reading 20 to 30 pages per meeting, and the preparation and delivery of a max. 30 minute group presentation on one of the above subthemes (the presentation requires additional reading of ca. 60-90 pages). Learners are expected to focus on at least one of the above subthemes (see the table of content under the link below).
Grading occurs on the basis of presentation, an intermediate quiz, peer feedback, and a final paper (of 10-15 pages) due within 2 months after the end of the course.

Prerequisites: A background in mathematics or logic may be found helpful for some (but not all) subthemes. Learners with a background in the empirical sciences are especially welcome. A background in philosophy is not necessary to successfully conclude the course. Those interested in pursuing empirical work are assumed to have a background in empirical research methodology (which is not provided in this course). The course is open to students at Master’s level and up. The language of instruction is English.

Reference
Adler, J.E., and Rips, L.J. (2008). Reasoning. Studies of Human Inference and its Foundations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (will be made available).
http://www.amazon.com/Reasoning-Studies-Human-Inference-Foundations/dp/0521848156

For more information contact Frank Zenker, Department of Philosophy & Cognitive Science, Kungshuset, Lundagård, 222 22 Lund, Sweden, Tel. 0046.70.148 31 35, http://www.fil.lu.se/persons/person.asp?filpers=792.

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AILACT Responds to Peter Wood

May 3, 2012 by SP

Some RAIL readers may recall the fracas that developed between Peter Wood, of the NAS and AILACT around the end of 2011.  Unfortunately, it’s a fracas in which RAIL played a direct role–something I sincerely regret. Though I had written what I hoped was a moderate-in-tone post questioning Wood’s use of the term ‘critical thinking’ before this, it was a guest post by Don Lazere that really earned Wood’s anger in sufficient quantity for him to denounce both RAIL and AILACT in a post at the Chronicle of Higher Education website. Many members of AILACT, including myself, found Wood’s characterization of the organization and its conception of critical thinking in this post to be both unfair and inaccurate.  In order to respond to Wood’s charges, the Board of AILACT wrote the following reply, which appears in the organization’s April Newsletter.  It is reproduced here, in its entirety, by permission of the Board.  In addition to setting the record straight about AILACT and the sense of critical thinking it endorses, I hope that it sets the stage for a more constructive dialogue between AILACT and Wood, and with others who care about critical thinking and its place in higher education.

A Reply by the AILACT Board to Peter Wood’s CHE Comments on “Critical Thinking” Continue Reading »

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Critical thinking about irony

April 30, 2012 by Cate Hundleby

Jezebel has a few things to tell us regarding critical thinking and racism, mostly “keep it simple stupid.”  Stop making excuses to believe that there is no racism or that it’s sufficiently over that it can be employed ironically.  That ignorance is a failure in critical thinking.

Writers Jim Cooke and elenabo/Shutterstock use a disquotational appeal to truth:

You know how you can tell that black people are still oppressed? Because black people are still oppressed.

The evidence is overwhelming.  Even if it were not, irony takes a delicate hand and is almost impossible to deliver from a position of privilege.

Their anger is inspiring but humour is difficult to think about critically.  Many of us have no understanding of how it works and why what seems to be a simple pleasure can cause so much harm.  Perhaps that is as important a subject for teaching critical thinking as argumentation?  Humour can be a hindrance or boon, and understanding the reasoning it involves may help us use it better.

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