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International Workshop on Argumentation in Multi-Agent Systems

ArgMAS 2010: Argumentation in Multi-Agent Systems pp 1–11Cite as

Instrumental Rationality

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 6614))

Abstract

Comprehensive reasoning from end to means requires an initiating intention to bring about some goal, along with five premisses: a specified means would immediately contribute to realization of the goal, the goal is achievable, the means is permissible, no alternative means is preferable, and the side effects do not outweigh the benefits of achieving the goal. Its conclusion is a decision to bring about the means. The scheme can be reiterated until an implementable means is reached. In a particular context, resource limitations may warrant truncation of the reasoning.

ACM Category: I.2.11 Multiagent systems. General terms: Theory.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8S 4K1

    David Hitchcock

Authors
  1. David Hitchcock
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Informatics, King’s College London, Strand Building S6.04, The Strand, WC2R 2LS, London, UK

    Peter McBurney

  2. Masdar Institute, P.O. Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Iyad Rahwan

  3. Department of Computer Science, Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, 10016, New York, NY, USA

    Simon Parsons

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© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Hitchcock, D. (2011). Instrumental Rationality. In: McBurney, P., Rahwan, I., Parsons, S. (eds) Argumentation in Multi-Agent Systems. ArgMAS 2010. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 6614. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21940-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21940-5_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-21939-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-21940-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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