Rationality, transitivity, and contraposition (Q1190801)

The note presents technical results (concerning certain properties of reasonable nonmonotonic consequence relations) on the systems of nonmonotonic reasoning. The results of the paper complete those of \textit{S. Kraus}, \textit{D.Lehmann} and \textit{M. Magidor} [Artif. Intell. 44, No. 1/2, 167-207 (1990)]. The main attention of the paper is devoted to the relations between rational monotonicity and weakened forms of transitivity and contraposition. It is shown that weak transitivity and rational monotonicity are equivalent. (Moreover, three other forms of weakened transitivity are equivalent to rational monotonicity.) A restricted form of contraposition (weak contraposition) is proposed: From the premisses \(\gamma\wedge \alpha\vdash \beta\), \(\gamma\not\vdash\beta\) follows the conclusion \(\gamma \wedge \neg\beta\vdash\neg \alpha\). Weak contraposition is strictly weaker than rational monotonicity. Moreover, weak contraposition is compared to two further rationality properties weaker than rational monotonicity, negational rationality and disjunctive rationality: Relations between the properties are as follows: Weak contraposition is incomparable with disjunctive and negation rationality. Weak contraposition and disjunctive rationality together imply rational monotonicity. Weak contraposition of negation rationality together do not imply disjunctive rationality. A special case of the relation between weak contraposition and rational monotonicity is expressed in the following theorem: Let \(W\) be a finite preferential model in which, for every state, there exists a proposition true only in this state, if the preferential relation defined by \(W\) satisfies weak contraposition, then it satisfies rational monotonicity.