Standpoint logic has been designed to support different standpoints on the same situation. Reasoning can be based on existing theoretical results, but an efficient reasoner is still lacking.
Ontologies and knowledge bases can be used to conceptualise specific domains. These knowledge sources reflect the points of view of their creators, as well as other contextual aspects and modelling design decisions. This semantic heterogeneity will often lead to inconsistencies and unintended inferences when we try to make sources interoperable.
Standpoint Logic [1,2] is a multi-modal logic intended for the integrated representation of knowledge relative to diverse, possibly conflicting standpoints or perspectives. It addresses this challenge by supporting the coexistence of multiple standpoints and the establishment of alignments between them. This is particularly important in scenarios that require the simultaneous consideration of multiple viewpoints. To do this, we extend a given base language (for instance a description logic or propositional logic) with labelled modal operators, such that propositions []LC φ and <>LC φ express information relative to the standpoint LC and read, respectively: “according to LC, it is unequivocal/conceivable that φ”.
Building on some of our theoretical results on Standpoint Logic [3], this research topic focuses on the practical implementation of reasoning systems and tools. Establishing and developing efficient and scalable reasoning algorithms, and integrating Standpoint Logic with existing knowledge representation and reasoning systems are key aspects of this research. Additionally, you may propose benchmarks to evaluate the performance of Standpoint Logic reasoners on real-world knowledge bases.
References:
[1] Gómez Álvarez, L., Rudolph, S.: Standpoint logic: Multi-perspective knowledge representation. In: Neuhaus, F., Brodaric, B. (eds.) Procs. of the 12th Int. Conf. on Formal Ontology in Information Systems (FOIS). FAIA, vol. 344, pp. 3–17. IOS Press (2021)
[2] Gómez Álvarez, L., Rudolph, S., Strass, H.: How to Agree to Disagree: Managing Ontological Perspectives using Standpoint Logic. In: Sattler, U., Hogan, A., Keet, C.M., Presutti, V., Almeida, J.P.A., Takeda, H., Monnin, P., Pirrò, G., d’Amato, C. (eds.) Proceedings of the 21st International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC). pp. 125–141. Springer (2022)
[3] Gómez Álvarez, L., Rudolph, S., Strass, H.: Pushing the Boundaries of Tractable Multiperspective Reasoning: A Deduction Calculus for Standpoint . In: Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (KRR). IJCAI Inc. (2023), in press.
Links: