Jon Doyle – författare

This book deploys the mathematical axioms of modern rational mechanics to understand minds as mechanical systems that exhibit actual, not metaphorical, forces, inertia, and motion. Using precise mental models developed in artificial intelligence the author analyzes motivation, attention, reasoning, learning, and communication in mechanical terms. These analyses provide psychology and economics with new characterizations of bounded rationality; provide mechanics with new types of materials exhibiting the constitutive kinematic and dynamic properties characteristic of different kinds of minds; and provide philosophy with a rigorous theory of hybrid systems combining discrete and continuous mechanical quantities. The resulting mechanical reintegration of the physical sciences that characterize human bodies and the mental sciences that characterize human minds opens traditional philosophical and modern computational questions to new paths of technical analysis.

Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning contains the proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (KR ''94) held in Bonn, Germany, on May 24-27, 1994. The conference provided a forum for reviewing the theory and principles underlying knowledge representation and reasoning. Topics covered range from reasoning about mental states and spatial reasoning with propositional logics to default logic as a query language. Comprised of 60 chapters, this book begins with a description of a formal language for representing and reasoning about time and action before turning to proof in context and how it can replace the most common uses of reflection principles. The reader is then introduced to reasoning with minimal models; belief ascription and mental-level modeling; and a unified framework for class-based representation formalisms. A general approach to specificity in default reasoning is also described, together with an ontology for engineering mathematics and the use of abduction to generate tests. The book concludes by considering the use of natural language for knowledge representation and reasoning. This monograph will be of interest to both students and practitioners in the fields of artificial intelligence and computer science.

'Marks the arrival of an explosive new talent' Observer'Rich and involving and emotionally charged' Guardian'An immaculate debut with dirt under its fingernails' Colin Walsh, author of KalaJust so we're clear, she said, I know the rules of confession. What I say cannot be repeated. Not to anyone...When Mack O'Brien left his home in Port Talbot for the seminary as a teenager, he didn't imagine he'd be back a decade later, unordained and still at a loss as to what makes for a moral life. He takes a job as a security guard at the local steelworks and begins an uneasy transition into the world he once rejected. When the men of the steelworks organise an unprecedented strike in protest against job cuts, he sees no reason not to go along with it. The last person Mack expects to see in the local club is Siwan Roderick - the woman who appeared out of the blue at the seminary one day to make a confession and swear him to secrecy. Mack kept his word. But as the day of the strike nears, and as he begins to fully understand what Siwan is planning, Mack is forced to reckon with his loyalty to her and the question of whether an act of violence can ever be justified.'A rare novel... This is poignant, resounding writing' Cynan Jones, author of Pulse'Each paragraph arrives like a short, beautiful breath' Andrew McMillan, author of Pity'Electric' Kasim Ali, author of Good Intentions

'Marks the arrival of an explosive new talent' Observer'Rich and involving and emotionally charged' Guardian'An immaculate debut with dirt under its fingernails' Colin Walsh, author of KalaJust so we're clear, she said, I know the rules of confession. What I say cannot be repeated. Not to anyone...When Mack O'Brien left his home in Port Talbot for the seminary as a teenager, he didn't imagine he'd be back a decade later, unordained and still at a loss as to what makes for a moral life. He takes a job as a security guard at the local steelworks and begins an uneasy transition into the world he once rejected. When the men of the steelworks organise an unprecedented strike in protest against job cuts, he sees no reason not to go along with it. The last person Mack expects to see in the local club is Siwan Roderick - the woman who appeared out of the blue at the seminary one day to make a confession and swear him to secrecy. Mack kept his word. But as the day of the strike nears, and as he begins to fully understand what Siwan is planning, Mack is forced to reckon with his loyalty to her and the question of whether an act of violence can ever be justified.'A rare novel... This is poignant, resounding writing' Cynan Jones, author of Pulse'Each paragraph arrives like a short, beautiful breath' Andrew McMillan, author of Pity'Electric' Kasim Ali, author of Good Intentions