Abduction Based on Similar Cases and Dissimilar Cases
Zhuang Chao-hui · Journal of Xiamen University · 2008
Given a theory and observations,abduction tries to find explanations for observations.However,the present abduction reasoning mostly has few characteristics of induction.In daily life and scientific discovery,a new property Q of some individual was not explained arbitrarily.First,other individuals (similar cases),which have the same property Q,would be found.Other properties of similar cases would be examined to find the possible cause of property Q.Second,other individuals (dissimilar cases),which have not the property Q,would be found too.Other properties of dissimilar cases were not believed to be the cause of the property Q.Based on similar cases and dissimilar cases,the possible explanations for the observations could be found.In this paper,the notions of similar cases and dissimilar cases were presented in a formal method.Based on it,an abduction reasoning framework was introduced.For computing all maximal explanations,an algorithm was presented and its soundness and completeness were proven.Last,an example demonstrated this method.Compared with the present abductions,this framework has the following advantages:the framework has more characteristics of induction;the abducted explanations can be applied to other constants to generate more statements.