Processing natural language arguments and propositions

Abstract

Natural language content can be provided by multiple and various sources. Once in text format, such content may be provided to various systems for further processing to identify one or more propositions. The relationship between each proposition may be identified and ordered according to the identified relationships. A visual display may be generated to illustrate the identified propositions and relationship, as well as identify any propositions that may be missing, unsupported, or other characteristic thereof.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for processing natural language arguments, the method comprising:
 receiving a set of natural language input intended for a rhetorical argument;   identifying a first propositional element in a first portion of the natural language input and a second propositional element in a second portion of the natural language input;   determining a differentiating element between the first propositional element and the second propositional element; and   generating one or more traversal elements to traverse between the first propositional element and the second propositional element based on the differentiating element, wherein the traversal elements provide support for the rhetorical argument.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the differentiating element between the first propositional element and the second propositional element includes comparing a distance between a first coordinate value of the first propositional element and a second coordinate value of the second propositional element in a semantic vector space. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein comparing the distance includes mapping the first propositional element and the second propositional element on one or more axes associated with one or more abstraction within the semantic vector space. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising identifying a first group of words related to the first propositional element, wherein a coordinate value of a word from the first group of words is used to determine the differentiating element instead of the first coordinate value of the first propositional element. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein identifying the first group of words related to the first propositional element includes mapping the first group of words and the first propositional element on a taxonomy tree. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the word from the first group of words is an emotionally neutral version of the first propositional element. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising identifying a second group of words related to the second propositional element, wherein a coordinate value of a word from the second group of words is used to determine the differentiating element instead of the second coordinate value of the second propositional element. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the word from the second group of words is an emotionally neutral version of the second propositional element. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein identifying the second group of words related to the second propositional element includes mapping the second group of words and the second propositional element on a taxonomy tree. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising providing a conclusion tabulation in real-time based on a chain of reasoning associated with the first propositional value, a selected traversal element of the one or more traversal elements, and the second propositional value, wherein the conclusion tabulation is updated based on a selection of a different traversal element of the one or more traversal elements. 
     
     
         11 . A system for processing natural language arguments, the system comprising:
 a user interface that receives a set of natural language input intended for a rhetorical argument; and   a processor that executes instructions stored in memory, wherein execution of the instructions by the processor:
 identifies a first propositional element in a first portion of the natural language input and a second propositional element in a second portion of the natural language input; 
 determines a differentiating element between the first propositional element and the second propositional element; and 
 generates one or more traversal elements to traverse between the first propositional element and the second propositional element based on the differentiating element, wherein the traversal elements provide support for the rhetorical argument. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor executes instructions to determine the differentiating element between the first propositional element and the second propositional element by comparing a distance between a first coordinate value of the first propositional element and a second coordinate value of the second propositional element in a semantic vector space. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the processor executes instructions to compare the distance by mapping the first propositional element and the second propositional element on one or more axes associated with one or more abstraction within the semantic vector space. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the processor executes further instructions to identify a first group of words related to the first propositional element, wherein a coordinate value of a word from the first group of words is used to determine the differentiating element instead of the first coordinate value of the first propositional element. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the processor executes instructions to identify the first group of words related to the first propositional element by mapping the first group of words and the first propositional element on a taxonomy tree. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the word from the first group of words is an emotionally neutral version of the first propositional element. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the processor executes further instructions to identify a second group of words related to the second propositional element, wherein a coordinate value of a word from the second group of words is used to determine the differentiating element instead of the second coordinate value of the second propositional element. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the processor executes instructions to identify the second group of words related to the second propositional element by mapping the second group of words and the second propositional element on a taxonomy tree. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the processor executes further instructions to provide a conclusion tabulation in real-time based on a chain of reasoning associated with the first propositional value, a selected traversal element of the one or more traversal elements, and the second propositional value, wherein the conclusion tabulation is updated based on a selection of a different traversal element of the one or more traversal elements. 
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform a method for processing natural language arguments, the method comprising:
 receiving a set of natural language input intended for a rhetorical argument;   identifying a first propositional element in a first portion of the natural language input and a second propositional element in a second portion of the natural language input;   determining a differentiating element between the first propositional element and the second propositional element; and   generating one or more traversal elements to traverse between the first propositional element and the second propositional element based on the differentiating element, wherein the traversal elements provide support for the rhetorical argument.