Towards Partial Reasoning
Krzysztof Nowak · The Florida AI Research Society · 1998
This paper presents a framework for rea.uoning with partial information provided bv multiple agents. On the semantic side, there are partial objects corresponding t.o equivalence classes of indiscernible object.s. Sets of partial objects form partial worlds. On the synt,’u:tic side, agents describe their partial worhls, and their description sets are taken as sets of axioms for fi~rmal systems with intuitive rules of inference. Giw,n a formal system, its set of theorems forms a consistent partial theory. The set of all theories is equipped with an information ordering and forms a lat.tiee. The lattice struct.ure allows to visualise how theories, and agents, support or contradict each other. The set of description sets provided by agents determines a set of theories believed by the agents, and this set gives rise to a sub-lattice of the set of all theories. The ti’amework is appropriate fi~r dealing with informal.ion provided by nmltiple sources of information, with emph~Lsis on partial and contradictory informarion.