Logic and Program Semantics

Brimming with visual examples of concepts, derivation rules, and proof strategies, this introductory text is ideal for students with no previous experience in logic. Students will learn translation bo

Brimming with visual examples of concepts, derivation rules, and proof strategies, this introductory text is ideal for students with no previous experience in logic. Students will learn translation bo

This booklet presents a reasonably self-contained theory of predicate trans- former semantics. Predicate transformers were introduced by one of us (EWD) as a means for defining programming language se

This Festschrift volume is published in honor of Dexter Kozen on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Dexter Kozen has been a leader in the development of Kleene Algebras (KAs). The contributions in thi

Dr Andrews here provides a homogeneous treatment of the semantics (operational and logical) of both theoretical and practical logic programming languages. He shows how the rift between theory and practice in logic programming can be bridged. This is achieved by precisely characterizing the way in which 'depth-first' search for solutions to a logical formula - the usual strategy in most practical languages - is incomplete. Languages that perform 'breadth-first' searches reflect more closely the theory underlying logic programming languages. Researchers interested in logic programming or semantics, as well as artificial intelligence search strategies, will want to consult this book as the only source for some essential and new ideas in the area.

Covering the authors’ own state-of-the-art research results, Mathematical Aspects of Logic Programming Semantics presents a rigorous, modern account of the mathematical methods and tools require

The book extends the development of probability logic—a logic using probability, not verity (true, false) as the basic semantic notion. The basic connectives "not," "and," and "or" are described in de

Probabilistic Logic Programming extends Logic Programming by enabling the representation of uncertain information by means of probability theory. Probabilistic Logic Programming is at the intersection

This book develops a novel generalization of possible world semantics, called ‘world line semantics’, which recognizes worlds and links between world-bound objects (world lines) as mutually independen

History of Logic and Semantics offers a collection of studies on the development of the Aristotelian and terminist approaches to language, from the Boethian reception of Aristotle to the post-medieval

This contributed volume includes both theoretical research on philosophical logic and its applications in artificial intelligence, mostly employing the concepts and techniques of modal logic. It colle

In this text, a variety of modal logics at the sentential, first-order, and second-order levels are developed with clarity, precision and philosophical insight. All of the S1-S5 modal logics of Lewis

In this text, a variety of modal logics at the sentential, first-order, and second-order levels are developed with clarity, precision and philosophical insight. All of the S1-S5 modal logics of Lewis

Written for students, researchers, consultants, professionals, and scholars, Logic Modeling Methods in Program Evaluation provides a step-by-step explanation of logic modeling and its importance in co

Based on his analysis of core components of Aristotle's semantics as expounded in the Organon , de Rijk (emeritus, ancient and medieval philosophy, U. of Leiden) argues that the attribution of incons

"This book is valuable as expounding in full a theory of meaning that has its roots in the work of Frege and has been of the widest influence. . . . The chief virtue of the book is its systematic cha

Professor Merrie Bergmann presents an accessible introduction to the subject of many-valued and fuzzy logic designed for use on undergraduate and graduate courses in non-classical logic. Bergmann discusses the philosophical issues that give rise to fuzzy logic - problems arising from vague language - and returns to those issues as logical systems are presented. For historical and pedagogical reasons, three-valued logical systems are presented as useful intermediate systems for studying the principles and theory behind fuzzy logic. The major fuzzy logical systems - Lukasiewicz, Gödel, and product logics - are then presented as generalisations of three-valued systems that successfully address the problems of vagueness. A clear presentation of technical concepts, this book includes exercises throughout the text that pose straightforward problems, that ask students to continue proofs begun in the text, and that engage students in the comparison of logical systems.

Professor Merrie Bergmann presents an accessible introduction to the subject of many-valued and fuzzy logic designed for use on undergraduate and graduate courses in non-classical logic. Bergmann discusses the philosophical issues that give rise to fuzzy logic - problems arising from vague language - and returns to those issues as logical systems are presented. For historical and pedagogical reasons, three-valued logical systems are presented as useful intermediate systems for studying the principles and theory behind fuzzy logic. The major fuzzy logical systems - Lukasiewicz, Gödel, and product logics - are then presented as generalisations of three-valued systems that successfully address the problems of vagueness. A clear presentation of technical concepts, this book includes exercises throughout the text that pose straightforward problems, that ask students to continue proofs begun in the text, and that engage students in the comparison of logical systems.

Between good intentions and great results lies a program theory—not just a list of tasks but a vision of what needs to happen, and how. Now widely used in government and not-for-profit organizations,

The book aims to present several main advances in Natural Language Semantics and the interface between syntax and semantics after the last two decades, based on some of the most recent logical theori

'Mass terms' like water, rice and traffic, have proved very difficult to accommodate in any theory of meaning since, unlike count nouns such as house or dog, they cannot be treated as denoting sets of individuals. In this study, motivated by the need to design a computer program for understanding natural language utterances containing mass terms, Harry Bunt provides a thorough analysis of the problem and offers an original and detailed solution. An extension of classical set theory, Ensemble Theory, is defined. This provides the formal basis of a framework for the analysis of natural language meaning which Dr Bunt calls two-level model-theoretic semantics. The validity of the framework is convincingly demonstrated by the detailed analysis of a fragment of English including sentences with quantified and modified mass terms. This significant advance in our understanding of the formal syntactic and semantic properties of mass terms will be of interest not only to linguists and logicians,

This practical coursebook introduces all the basics of semantics in a simple, step-by-step fashion. Each unit includes short sections of explanation with examples, followed by stimulating practice exercises to complete in the book. Feedback and comment sections follow each exercise to enable students to monitor their progress. No previous background in semantics is assumed, as students begin by discovering the value and fascination of the subject and then move through all key topics in the field, including sense and reference, simple logic, word meaning and interpersonal meaning. New study guides and exercises have been added to the end of each unit to help reinforce and test learning. A completely new unit on non-literal language and metaphor, plus updates throughout the text significantly expand the scope of the original edition to bring it up-to-date with modern teaching of semantics for introductory courses in linguistics as well as intermediate students.

A central problem in the design of programming systems is to provide methods for verifying that computer code performs to specification. This book presents a rigorous foundation for defining Boolean categories, in which the relationship between specification and behaviour can be explored. Boolean categories provide a rich interface between program constructs and techniques familiar from algebra, for instance matrix- or ideal-theoretic methods. The book's distinction is that the approach relies on only a single program construct (the first-order theory of categories), the others being derived mathematically from four axioms. Development of these axioms (which are obeyed by an abundance of program paradigms) yields Boolean algebras of 'predicates', loop-free constructs, and a calculus of partial and total correctness which is shown to be the standard one of Hoare, Dijkstra, Pratt, and Kozen. The book is based in part on courses taught by the author, and will appeal to graduate students a

Willard Van Orman Quine (1908-2000) was probably the most influential American philosopher of the twentieth century. In Trading Ontology for Ideology Lieven Decock offers an insightful analysis of the