<logic> The process of inference to the best explanation.
"Abduction" is sometimes used to mean just the generation of
hypotheses to explain observations or conclusionsm, but the
former definition is more common both in philosophy and
computing.
The semantics and the implementation of abduction cannot be
reduced to those for deduction, as explanation cannot be
reduced to implication.
Applications include fault diagnosis, plan formation and
default reasoning.
Negation as failure in logic programming can both be given
an abductive interpretation and also can be used to implement
abduction. The abductive semantics of negation as failure
leads naturally to an argumentation-theoretic interpretation
of default reasoning in general.
[Better explanation? Example?]
["Abductive Inference", John R. Josephson
<jj@cis.ohio-state.edu>].
(2000-12-07)
Nearby terms:
ABCL/c+ « ABCL/R « ABCL/R2 « abduction » ABEND » ABI » ABLE
