A Computational-Hermeneutic Approach for Conceptual Explicitation

in Nepomuceno, A.; Magnani, L.; Salguero, F. (Eds.) et al Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology -- Inferential Models for Logic, Language, Cognition and Computation (2019)

We present a computer-supported approach for the logical analysis and conceptual explicitation of argumentative discourse. Computational hermeneutics harnesses recent progresses in automated reasoning for ... [more ▼]

We present a computer-supported approach for the logical analysis and conceptual explicitation of argumentative discourse. Computational hermeneutics harnesses recent progresses in automated reasoning for higher-order logics and aims at formalizing natural-language argumentative discourse using flexible combinations of expressive non-classical logics. In doing so, it allows us to render explicit the tacit conceptualizations implicit in argumentative discursive practices. Our approach operates on networks of structured arguments and is iterative and two-layered. At one layer we search for logically correct formalizations for each of the individual arguments. At the next layer we select among those correct formalizations the ones which honor the argument’s dialectic role, i.e. attacking or supporting other arguments as intended. We operate at these two layers in parallel and continuously rate sentences’ formalizations by using, primarily, inferential adequacy criteria. An interpretive, logical theory will thus gradually evolve. This theory is composed of meaning postulates serving as explications for concepts playing a role in the analyzed arguments. Such a recursive, iterative approach to interpretation does justice to the inherent circularity of understanding: the whole is understood compositionally on the basis of its parts, while each part is understood only in the context of the whole (hermeneutic circle). We summarily discuss previous work on exemplary applications of human-in-the-loop computational hermeneutics in metaphysical discourse. We also discuss some of the main challenges involved in fully-automating our approach. By sketching some design ideas and reviewing relevant technologies, we argue for the technological feasibility of a highly-automated computational hermeneutics. [less ▲]

Automated Reasoning with Complex Ethical Theories--A Case Study Towards Responsible AI

in 16th International Congress on Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and Technology (CLMPST 2019) --- Bridging across Academic Cultures, Book of Abstracts (2019)

A Case Study On Computational Hermeneutics: E. J. Lowe's Modal Ontological Argument

in IfCoLog Journal of Logics and Their Applications (2018), 5(7), 1567-1603

Computers may help us to better understand (not just verify) arguments. In this article we defend this claim by showcasing the application of a new, computer-assisted interpretive method to an exemplary ... [more ▼]

Computers may help us to better understand (not just verify) arguments. In this article we defend this claim by showcasing the application of a new, computer-assisted interpretive method to an exemplary natural-language argument with strong ties to metaphysics and religion: E. J. Lowe’s modern variant of St. Anselm’s ontological argument for the existence of God. Our new method, which we call computational hermeneutics, has been particularly conceived for use in interactive-automated proof assistants. It aims at shedding light on the meanings of words and sentences by framing their inferential role in a given argument. By employing automated theorem reasoning technology within interactive proof assistants, we are able to drastically reduce (by several orders of magnitude) the time needed to test the logical validity of an argument’s formalization. As a result, a new approach to logical analysis, inspired by Donald Davidson’s account of radical interpretation, has been enabled. In computational hermeneutics, the utilization of automated reasoning tools effectively boosts our capacity to expose the assumptions we indirectly commit ourselves to every time we engage in rational argumentation and it fosters the explicitation and revision of our concepts and commitments. [less ▲]

Can Computers Help to Sharpen our Understanding of Ontological Arguments?

in Mathematics and Reality, Proceedings of the 11th All India Students' Conference on Science Spiritual Quest, 6-7 October, 2018, IIT Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar, India (2018)

Automating Emendations of the Ontological Argument in Intensional Higher-Order Modal Logic

in KI 2017: Advances in Artificial Intelligence 40th Annual German Conference on AI (2017, September)

A shallow semantic embedding of an intensional higher-order modal logic (IHOML) in Isabelle/HOL is presented. IHOML draws on Montague/Gallin intensional logics and has been introduced by Melvin Fitting in ... [more ▼]

A shallow semantic embedding of an intensional higher-order modal logic (IHOML) in Isabelle/HOL is presented. IHOML draws on Montague/Gallin intensional logics and has been introduced by Melvin Fitting in his textbook Types, Tableaus and Gödel’s God in order to discuss his emendation of Gödel’s ontological argument for the existence of God. Utilizing IHOML, the most interesting parts of Fitting’s textbook are formalized, automated and verified in the Isabelle/HOL proof assistant. A particular focus thereby is on three variants of the ontological argument which avoid the modal collapse, which is a strongly criticized side-effect in Gödel’s resp. Scott’s original work. [less ▲]

The Virtues of Automated Theorem Proving in Metaphysics --- A Case Study: E. J. Lowe's Modal Ontological Argument

in The 2nd World Congress on Logic and Religion -- Book of Abstracts (2017)