Epistemic Logic for AI and Computer Science

by J.-J. Ch. Meyer, W. van der Hoek

Overview

Epistemic logic has grown from its philosophical beginnings to find diverse applications in computer science as a means of reasoning about the knowledge and belief of agents. This book, based on courses taught at universities and summer schools, provides a broad introduction to the subject; many exercises are included together with their solutions. The authors begin by presenting the necessary apparatus from mathematics and logic, including Kripke semantics and the well-known modal logics K, T, S4 and S5. Then they turn to applications in the contexts of distributed systems and artificial intelligence: topics that are addressed include the notions of common knowledge, distributed knowledge, explicit and implicit belief, the interplays between knowledge and time, and knowledge and action, as well as a graded (or numerical) variant of the epistemic operators. The problem of logical omniscience is also discussed extensively. Halpern and Moses' theory of honest formulae is covered, and a digression is made into the realm of non-monotonic reasoning and preferential entailment. Moore's autoepistemic logic is discussed, together with Levesque's related logic of 'all I know'. Furthermore, it is shown how one can base default and counterfactual reasoning on epistemic logic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521602808
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/25/2004
Series:	Cambridge Tracts in Theoretical Computer Science , #41
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	372
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.65(h) x 0.87(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Basics: the modal approach to knowledge; 3. Various notions of knowledge and belief; 4. Knowledge and ignorance; 5. Default reasoning by epistemic logic; References; Appendices; Answers to exercises; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'Epistemic logic has grown from its philosophical beginnings to find diverse applications in computer science as a means of reasoning about the knowledge and belief of agents. This book, based on courses taught at universities and summer schools, provides a broad introduction to the subject.' Phinews

' … a very detailed coverage … that is well written, well reasoned, and a useful reference to have on the shelf.' R. J. Bradford, Axis

From the Publisher