Computational Logic and Human Thinking: How to be Artificially Intelligent

by Robert Kowalski

• ISBN13: 9780521123365
• ISBN10: 0521123364
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-08-22
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The practical benefits of computational logic need not be limited to mathematics and computing. As this book shows, ordinary people in their everyday lives can profit from the recent advances that have been developed for artificial intelligence. The book draws upon related developments in various fields from philosophy to psychology and law. It pays special attention to the integration of logic with decision theory, and the use of logic to improve the clarity and coherence of communication in natural languages such as English. This book is essential reading for teachers and researchers who may be out of touch with the latest developments in computational logic. It will also be useful in any undergraduate course that teaches practical thinking, problem solving or communication skills. Its informal presentation makes the book accessible to readers from any background, but optional, more formal, chapters are also included for those who are more technically oriented.

Author Biography

Robert Kowalski is Emeritus Professor and Research Investigator in the Department of Computing at Imperial College London. In 2011 he received the IJCAI 2011 Award for Research Excellence for his contributions to logic for knowledge representation and problem solving, including his pioneering work on automated theorem proving and logic programming.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Summary and plan of the book	p. xii
Introduction	p. 1
Logic on the Underground	p. 9
The psychology of logic	p. 24
The fox and the crow	p. 40
Search	p. 50
Negation as failure	p. 60
How to become a British Citizen	p. 77
The louse and the Mars explorer	p. 92
Maintenance goals as the driving force of life	p. 107
The meaning of life	p. 125
Abduction	p. 134
The Prisoner's Dilemma	p. 144
Motivations matter	p. 155
The changing world	p. 166
Logic and objects	p. 179
Biconditionals	p. 188
Computational Logic and the selection task	p. 198
Meta-logic	p. 213
Conclusions of the book	p. 227
The syntax of logical form	p. 231
Truth	p. 247
Forward and backward reasoning	p. 257
Minimal models and negation	p. 263
The resolution rule	p. 269
The logic of abductive logic programming	p. 280
References	p. 296
Index	p. 303
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