Argumentation Schemes in Argument-as-Process and Argument-as-Product

Seeing an argument as a static, fixed, product of reasoning has allowed representational models to be developed which can handle and manipulate complex argument structures. Implementing these models using artificial intelligence techniques has shown how these static structures can not only be the result of argument processes, but can also be the foundation for argument processes. An argument-as-product representation can be used as a basis for providing structured information, for eliciting knowledge from experts, and for mediating online discussion, but in each case must be combined with elements of an argument-as-process representation. One example of a particularly close tie between the productand process-oriented representations lies in argumentation schemes. It has been demonstrated both that such schemes have a crucial role to play in understanding everyday discourse, and also that they are well within the capabilities of current AI technology. However, the ways in which argumentation schemes drive a dialogue onwards, through a combination of critical questioning and relevance maintenance, has remained largely unaddressed. Here, the relationship between the argument-as-process and argument-as-product representations is explored, using as a focus the roles that argumentation schemes play in the two approaches.