Title: Limited reasoning in first-order knowledge bases with full introspection
Abstract: A fundamental problem in knowledge representation is that reasoning, if based on classical logic, is inherently intractable or even undecidable. A principled approach to specifying more efficient inference mechanisms is to use weaker logics with non-standard model theories. In this paper we extend earlier work on a logic of belief for decidable deductive first-order reasoning by adding the ability to introspect. The new logic allows us to formally specify the beliefs of deductively limited yet fully introspective first-order knowledge bases. The complexity of reasoning in this framework reduces to the complexity of a special validity problem of the logic and we obtain various tractability/decidability results. To demonstrate the usefulness of the logic for knowledge representation purposes we show how it can be applied to the specification of routines to query and update a knowledge base. Other interesting aspects of the logic include distinctions between knowing that and knowing who by way of quantifying-in and a very tight coupling between the limited beliefs of a knowledge base and those that follow under the assumption of perfect logical reasoning.
Publication Year: 1996
Publication Date: 1996-07-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 19
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