def parseExtensionArgs(self, args):
        """Set the state of this request to be that expressed in these
        PAPE arguments

        @param args: The PAPE arguments without a namespace

        @rtype: None

        @raises ValueError: When the max_auth_age is not parseable as
            an integer
        """

        # preferred_auth_policies is a space-separated list of policy URIs
        self.preferred_auth_policies = []

        policies_str = args.get('preferred_auth_policies')
        if policies_str:
            for uri in policies_str.split(' '):
                if uri not in self.preferred_auth_policies:
                    self.preferred_auth_policies.append(uri)

        # max_auth_age is base-10 integer number of seconds
        max_auth_age_str = args.get('max_auth_age')
        self.max_auth_age = None

        if max_auth_age_str:
            try:
                self.max_auth_age = int(max_auth_age_str)
            except ValueError:
                pass