1,256 research outputs found
Modal logics are coalgebraic
Applications of modal logics are abundant in computer science, and a large number of structurally different modal logics have been successfully employed in a diverse spectrum of application contexts. Coalgebraic semantics, on the other hand, provides a uniform and encompassing view on the large variety of specific logics used in particular domains. The coalgebraic approach is generic and compositional: tools and techniques simultaneously apply to a large class of application areas and can moreover be combined in a modular way. In particular, this facilitates a pick-and-choose approach to domain specific formalisms, applicable across the entire scope of application areas, leading to generic software tools that are easier to design, to implement, and to maintain. This paper substantiates the authors' firm belief that the systematic exploitation of the coalgebraic nature of modal logic will not only have impact on the field of modal logic itself but also lead to significant progress in a number of areas within computer science, such as knowledge representation and concurrency/mobility
An epistemic model of an agent who does not reflect on reasoning processes
This paper introduces an epistemic model of a boundedly rational agent under the two assumptions that (i) the agent's reasoning process is in accordance with the model but (ii) the agent does not reflect on these reasoning processes. For such a concept of bounded rationality a semantic interpretation by the possible world semantics of the Kripke (1963) type is no longer available because the definition of knowledge in these possible world semantics implies that the agent knows all valid statements of the model. Key to my alternative semantic approach is the extension of the method of truth tables, first introduced for the propositional logic by Wittgenstein (1922), to an epistemic logic so that I can determine the truth value of epistemic statements for all relevant truth conditions. I also define an axiom system plus inference rules for knowledge- and unawareness statements whereby I drop the inference rule of necessitation, which claims that an agent knows all theorems of the logic. As my main formal result I derive a determination theorem linking my semantic with my syntactic approach.Bounded Rationality, Knowledge, Unawareness, Epistemic Logic, Semantic Interpretation, Iterative Solution Concepts for Strategic Games
Designing Normative Theories for Ethical and Legal Reasoning: LogiKEy Framework, Methodology, and Tool Support
A framework and methodology---termed LogiKEy---for the design and engineering
of ethical reasoners, normative theories and deontic logics is presented. The
overall motivation is the development of suitable means for the control and
governance of intelligent autonomous systems. LogiKEy's unifying formal
framework is based on semantical embeddings of deontic logics, logic
combinations and ethico-legal domain theories in expressive classic
higher-order logic (HOL). This meta-logical approach enables the provision of
powerful tool support in LogiKEy: off-the-shelf theorem provers and model
finders for HOL are assisting the LogiKEy designer of ethical intelligent
agents to flexibly experiment with underlying logics and their combinations,
with ethico-legal domain theories, and with concrete examples---all at the same
time. Continuous improvements of these off-the-shelf provers, without further
ado, leverage the reasoning performance in LogiKEy. Case studies, in which the
LogiKEy framework and methodology has been applied and tested, give evidence
that HOL's undecidability often does not hinder efficient experimentation.Comment: 50 pages; 10 figure
Generic Modal Cut Elimination Applied to Conditional Logics
We develop a general criterion for cut elimination in sequent calculi for
propositional modal logics, which rests on absorption of cut, contraction,
weakening and inversion by the purely modal part of the rule system. Our
criterion applies also to a wide variety of logics outside the realm of normal
modal logic. We give extensive example instantiations of our framework to
various conditional logics. For these, we obtain fully internalised calculi
which are substantially simpler than those known in the literature, along with
leaner proofs of cut elimination and complexity. In one case, conditional logic
with modus ponens and conditional excluded middle, cut elimination and
complexity were explicitly stated as open in the literature
A Case Study on Computational Hermeneutics: E. J. Lowe’s Modal Ontological Argument
Computers may help us to better understand (not just verify) arguments. In this article we defend this claim by showcasing the application of a new, computer-assisted interpretive method to an exemplary natural-language ar- gument with strong ties to metaphysics and religion: E. J. Lowe’s modern variant of St. Anselm’s ontological argument for the existence of God. Our new method, which we call computational hermeneutics, has been particularly conceived for use in interactive-automated proof assistants. It aims at shedding light on the meanings of words and sentences by framing their inferential role in a given argument. By employing automated theorem reasoning technology within interactive proof assistants, we are able to drastically reduce (by several orders of magnitude) the time needed to test the logical validity of an argu- ment’s formalization. As a result, a new approach to logical analysis, inspired by Donald Davidson’s account of radical interpretation, has been enabled. In computational hermeneutics, the utilization of automated reasoning tools ef- fectively boosts our capacity to expose the assumptions we indirectly commit ourselves to every time we engage in rational argumentation and it fosters the explicitation and revision of our concepts and commitments
Semantical Investigations on Non-classical Logics with Recovery Operators: Negation
We investigate mathematical structures that provide a natural semantics for
families of (quantified) non-classical logics featuring special unary
connectives, called recovery operators, that allow us to 'recover' the
properties of classical logic in a controlled fashion. These structures are
called topological Boolean algebras. They are Boolean algebras extended with
additional unary operations, called operators, such that they satisfy
particular conditions of a topological nature. In the present work we focus on
the paradigmatic case of negation. We show how these algebras are well-suited
to provide a semantics for some families of paraconsistent Logics of Formal
Inconsistency and paracomplete Logics of Formal Undeterminedness, which feature
recovery operators used to earmark propositions that behave 'classically' in
interaction with non-classical negations. In contrast to traditional semantical
investigations, carried out in natural language (extended with mathematical
shorthand), our formal meta-language is a system of higher-order logic (HOL)
for which automated reasoning tools exist. In our approach, topological Boolean
algebras become encoded as algebras of sets via their Stone-type
representation. We employ our higher-order meta-logic to define and interrelate
several transformations on unary set operations (operators), which naturally
give rise to a topological cube of opposition. Furthermore, our approach allows
for a uniform characterization of propositional, first-order and higher-order
quantification (also restricted to constant and varying domains). With this
work we want to make a case for the utilization of automated theorem proving
technology for doing computer-supported research in non-classical logics. All
presented results have been formally verified (and in many cases obtained)
using the Isabelle/HOL proof assistant
The Logic of Exact Covers: Completeness and Uniform Interpolation
We show that all (not necessarily normal or monotone) modal logics that can be axiomatised in rank-1 have the interpolation property, and that in fact interpolation is uniform if the logics just have finitely many modal operators. As immediate applicatio
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