In
philosophy and
AI (especially,
knowledge-based systems
A knowledge-based system (KBS) is a computer program that reasons and uses a knowledge base to solve complex problems. The term is broad and refers to many different kinds of systems. The one common theme that unites all knowledge based systems i ...
), the qualification problem is concerned with the impossibility of listing ''all'' the
precondition
In computer programming, a precondition is a condition or predicate that must always be true just prior to the execution of some section of code or before an operation in a formal specification.
If a precondition is violated, the effect of the s ...
s required for a real-world action to have its intended effect.
It might be posed as ''how to deal with the things that prevent me from achieving my intended result''. It is strongly connected to, and opposite the
ramification side of, the
frame problem
In artificial intelligence, the frame problem describes an issue with using first-order logic (FOL) to express facts about a robot in the world. Representing the state of a robot with traditional FOL requires the use of many axioms that simply impl ...
.
John McCarthy gives the following motivating example,
in which it is impossible to enumerate all the circumstances that may prevent a rowboat from performing its ordinary function:
:"
e successful use of a boat to cross a river requires, if the boat is a rowboat, that the oars and rowlocks be present and unbroken, and that they fit each other. Many other qualifications can be added, making the rules for using a rowboat almost impossible to apply, and yet anyone will still be able to think of additional requirements not yet stated."
See also
*
Non-monotonic logic
A non-monotonic logic is a formal logic whose conclusion relation is not monotonic. In other words, non-monotonic logics are devised to capture and represent defeasible inferences (cf. defeasible reasoning), i.e., a kind of inference in which re ...
*
Circumscription
Circumscription may refer to:
*Circumscribed circle
* Circumscription (logic)
*Circumscription (taxonomy)
*Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthrop ...
References
External links
* John McCarthy
Introduction: The Qualification Problem
Knowledge representation
Logic programming
Epistemology
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