Applying Dialectic Agents to Argumentation in E-Commerce

Reaching an agreement or understanding through argumentation is an important aspect of decision making in a virtual society as well as in our real society. In this paper, we consider compromise (Aufheben) and concession (weaker Aufheben) as a simple form of Hegelian dialectical reasoning, which we think are desiderata to deliberate or cognitive agents. We then propose an argument-based agent system that allows for the issue modification among agents concerned during argumentation and reaching an agreement or understanding through argumentation with the dialectical reasoning capability. We illustrate its potential usefulness by showing applications to seller and buyer agents and traveling salesman agents in e-commerce.