Logics of knowledge and action: critical analysis and challenges

International audienceWe overview the most prominent logics of knowledge and action that were proposed and studied in the multiagent systems literature. We classify them according to these two dimensions, knowledge and action, and moreover introduce a distinction between individual knowledge and group knowledge, and between a nonstrategic an a strategic interpretation of action operators. For each of the logics in our classification we highlight problematic properties. They indicate weaknesses in the design of these logics and call into question their suitability to represent knowledge and reason about it. This leads to a list of research challenges

Probabilistic Logic with Strong Independence

Abstract. This papers investigates the manipulation of statements of strong independence in probabilistic logic. Inference methods based on polynomial programming are presented for strong independence, both for unconditional and conditional cases. We also consider graph-theoretic representations, where each node in a graph is associated with a Boolean variable and edges carry a Markov condition. The resulting model generalizes Bayesian networks, allowing probabilistic assessments and logical constraints to be mixed.

Metaphor, Metonymy, and Personification in the Language of Robotics

This paper presents an approach to meaning that relates the (pseudo-)problems raised by the language of robotics to the fundamental distinction between semantic and representational truth. As shown by Plato’s Cratylus or the controversy between Descartes and Arnauld on the “falsity” of ideas, “objective” theories of truth generally neglect this distinction, which cannot be captured by the Fregean dichotomy between “reference” and “sense”, and involves two notions of the “world”—the objective one of the “word-as-it-is” and the subjective one of the “world-as-experienced”. Relying on a typology of metaphors that emphasizes the difference between “pre-wired” and “non-pre-wired” metaphors, as well as the specificity of those metaphors that are not processed “on line”, one can provide arguments that support the thesis that the language of robotics, which bears on artifacts, uses not so much semantic as representational personification produced by either metaphor or metonymy. While metonymy is grounded on rational assignments of intentions, metaphor ensures compactness of thought and expression.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe