Approximation Fixpoint Theory for Non-Deterministic Operators and Its Application in Disjunctive Logic Programming

Approximation fixpoint theory (AFT) constitutes an abstract and general algebraic framework for studying the semantics of nonmonotonic logics. It provides a unifying study of the semantics of different formalisms for nonmonotonic reasoning, such as logic programming, default logic and autoepistemic logic. In this paper, we extend AFT to non-deterministic constructs such as disjunctive information. This is done by generalizing the main constructions and corresponding results to non-deterministic operators, whose ranges are sets of elements rather than single elements. The applicability and usefulness of this generalization is illustrated in the context of disjunctive logic programming.

On the correspondence between abstract dialectical frameworks and nonmonotonic conditional logics

The exact relationship between formal argumentation and nonmonotonic logics is a research topic that keeps on eluding researchers despite recent intensified efforts. We contribute to a deeper understanding of this relation by investigating characterizations of abstract dialectical frameworks in conditional logics for nonmonotonic reasoning. We first show that in general, there is a gap between argumentation and conditional semantics when applying several intuitive translations, but then prove that this gap can be closed when focusing on specific classes of translations.

Rational Closure For All Description Logics (Extended Abstract)

Many modern applications of description logics (DLs, for short), such as biomedical ontologies and semantic web policies, provide compelling motivations for extending DLs with an overriding mechanism analogous to the homonymous feature of object-oriented programming. Rational closure (RC) is one of the candidate semantics for such extensions, and one of the most intensively studied. So far, however, it has been limited to strict fragments of SROIQ(D) – the logic on which OWL2 is founded. In this paper we prove that RC cannot be extended to logics that do not satisfy the disjoint model union property, including SROIQ(D). Then we introduce a refinement of RC called stable rational closure that overcomes the dependency on the disjoint model union property. Our results show that stable RC is a natural extension of RC. However, its positive features come at a price: stable RC re-introduces one of the undesirable features of other nonmonotonic logics, namely, deductive closures may not exist and may not be unique.

Whither Consequence?

There are passages in Fallacies suggesting a skeptical attitude to the very idea of inductive arguments, hence to the existence of inductive fallacies. Although the passages are brief and few in number, it would appear that Hamblin’s resistance stems from doubts about the existence of relations of inductive consequence. This paper attempts to find a case in which such skepticism might plausibly be grounded. The case it proposes is highly conjectural, but important if true. Its greater importance lies in the threat it creates for the whole class of nonmonotonic logics.

Preferences and Nonmonotonic Reasoning

We give an overview of the multifaceted relationship between nonmonotonic logics and preferences. We discuss how the nonmonotonicity of reasoning itself is closely tied to preferences reasoners have on models of the world or, as we often say here, possible belief sets. Selecting extended logic programming with the answer-set semantics as a "generic" nonmonotonic logic, we show how that logic defines preferred belief sets and how preferred belief sets allow us to represent and interpret normative statements. Conflicts among program rules (more generally, defaults) give rise to alternative preferred belief sets. We discuss how such conflicts can be resolved based on implicit specificity or on explicit rankings of defaults. Finally, we comment on formalisms which explicitly represent preferences on properties of belief sets. Such formalisms either build preference information directly into rules and modify the semantics of the logic appropriately, or specify preferences on belief sets independently of the mechanism to define them.

CUMULATIVITY WITHOUT CLOSURE OF THE DOMAIN UNDER FINITE UNIONS

For nonmonotonic logics, Cumulativity is an important logical rule. We show here that Cumulativity fans out into an infinity of different conditions, if the domain is not closed under finite unions.