Abduction and the Dualization Problem

Thomas Eiter

Abstract: Abduction is a fundamental mode of reasoning which was extensively studied by C.S. Peirce, who also introduced the term for inference of explanations for observed phenomena. Abduction has taken on increasing importance in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and related disciplines, where it has been recognized as an important principle of common-sense reasoning. It has applications in many areas of AI and Computer Science including diagnosis, database updates, planning, natural language understanding, learning, to number some of them.