Teleological argumentation to and from motives

This paper uses tools from argumentation and artificial intelligence to build a system to analyse reasoning from a motive to an action and reasoning from circumstantial evidence of actions to a motive. The tools include argument mapping, argumentation schemes, inference to the best explanation and a hybrid method of combining argument and explanation. Several examples of use of relevant motive evidence in law are used to illustrate how the system works. It is shown how adjudicating cases where motive of evidence is relevant depends on a balance of argumentation that can be tilted to one side or the other using plausible reasoning that combines arguments and explanations.