Coherence and flexibility in dialogue games for argumentation

This article carries out a formal study of dialogue games for argumentation. A formal framework for such games is proposed which imposes an explicit reply structure on dialogues, where each dialogue move either attacks or surrenders to some earlier move of the other participant. The framework is flexible in several respects. It allows for different underlying logics, alternative sets of locutions and more or less strict rules for when they are allowed. In particular, it allows for varying degrees of coherence and flexibility when it comes to maintaining the focus of a dialogue. Its formal nature supports the study of formal properties of specific dialogue protocols, especially on how they respect the underlying logic.