Consistency defaults (Q2454638)

The author introduces an alternative notation for presenting Reiter-style default logics. As in the case of cumulative default logics, the essential idea is to enrich the basic objects of the logic. Rather than being just propositional formulae, they are ordered pairs of propositional formulae; the first item of each pair records the assertion being made, and the second records additional material that one may wish to refer to in consistency checks. With this notational apparatus, the author is able to give a smooth recursive definition (as well as the usual fixpoint one) of the notion of an extension in a semi-normal Reiter default logic. A small tweak does the same for the variant `justified' systems of Łukaszewicz, still for the semi-normal case. Reviewer's comment: Readers may wish to compare this construction with that of the reviewer in [Bridges from classical to nonmonotonic logic. London: King's College Publications (2005; Zbl 1084.03001)]. There, a straightforward recursive definition is provided for the extensions of all default logics, even when they are not semi-normal. This is done without modifying the standard ontology (the basic objects remain propositional formulae, and default rules remain as ordered triples of formulae).