Dynamics in Formal Argumentation: A Survey with Emphasis on Structured Accounts

Abstract

Argumentation is an inherently dynamic process. In formal argumentation, an important knowledge-based approach to artificial intelligence, this dynamic aspect has been studied from a variety of perspectives. Historically, the research has mostly focused on the abstract approach to argumentation, in which the structure of arguments and the nature of the attacks between them are abstracted away. There are, however, both theoretical and practical reasons to study dynamics from the structured perspective. In this survey, we provide an overview of the various perspectives on dynamics in abstract argumentation. Then we go into more detail about the available literature on dynamics of structured approaches to argumentation. We show why it is beneficial to consider dynamics of structured accounts, review the existing literature and discuss how to continue this line of work.