Inference on the Low Level
Subtitle: An Investigation into Deduction, Nonmonotonic Reasoning, and the Philosophy of Cognition
By: by Hannes Leitgeb
Series: Applied Logic Series -- 30; Applied logic series -- 30.
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Dordrecht
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] :
Number of pages: 386
ISBN-13: 9789048166695; 9781402028069
Subjects: Genetic epistemology; Philosophy (General); Artificial intelligence; Logic
Description: In contrast to the prevailing tradition in epistemology, the focus in this book is on low-level inferences, i.e., those inferences that we are usually not consciously aware of and that we share with the cat nearby which infers that the bird which she sees picking grains from the dirt, is able to fly. Presumably, such inferences are not generated by explicit logical reasoning, but logical methods can be used to describe and analyze such inferences. Part 1 gives a purely system-theoretic explication of belief and inference. Part 2 adds a reliabilist theory of justification for inference, with a qualitative notion of reliability being employed. Part 3 recalls and extends various systems of deductive and nonmonotonic logic and thereby explains the semantics of absolute and high reliability. In Part 4 it is proven that qualitative neural networks are able to draw justified deductive and nonmonotonic inferences on the basis of distributed representations. This is derived from a soundness/completeness theorem with regard to cognitive semantics of nonmonotonic reasoning. The appendix extends the theory both logically and ontologically, and relates it to A. Goldman's reliability account of justified belief.
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Table of contents: title: From the contents: I: The Explication of Monotonic and Nonmonotonic Inference; title: II: The Justification of Monotonic and Nonmonotonic Inference; title: III: The Logic of Justified Monotonic and Nonmonotonic Inference; title: IV: The Cognition of Justified Monotonic and Nonmonotonic Inference by Low-Level Agents; title: V: Appendix.