Aggregation of Perspectives Using the Constellations Approach to Probabilistic Argumentation

Abstract

In the constellations approach to probabilistic argumentation, there is a probability distribution over the subgraphs of an argument graph, and this can be used to represent the uncertainty in the structure of the argument graph. In this paper, we consider how we can construct this probability distribution from data. We provide a language for data based on perspectives (opinions) on the structure of the graph, and we introduce a framework (based on general properties and some specific proposals) for aggregating these perspectives, and as a result obtaining a probability distribution that best reflects these perspectives. This can be used in applications such as summarizing collections of online reviews and combining conflicting reports.