Inference and update

Fernando R. Velázquez-Quesada

pp. 283-300

in: Thomas Ågotnes, Johan van Benthem, Eric Pacuit (eds), Knowledge, rationality & action, Synthese 169 (2), 2009.

Abstract

We look at two fundamental logical processes, often intertwined in planning and problem solving: inference and update. Inference is an internal process with which we uncover what is implicit in the information we already have. Update, on the other hand, is produced by external communication, usually in the form of announcements and in general in the form of observations, giving us information that might not have been available (even implicitly) before. Both processes have received attention from the logic community, usually separately. In this work, we develop a logical language that allows us to describe them together. We present syntax, semantics and a complete axiom system; we discuss similarities and differences with other approaches and mention how the work can be extended.