Logical support for terminological modeling.

Abstract

Terminological modeling, in particular in medical domains, is difficult and has enjoyed growing attention over the recent past. In practice, logical reasoning can play a fundamental role to support the modeling process. Nevertheless, the development of the logical tools is usually driven by computational or theoretical criteria rather than by the direct needs of a modeler. In this paper we attempt to shift this balance and discuss a number of logical reasoning services to support the modeler of a (medical) terminology to construct a formally sound, complete and concise terminology. This modeling support is logical as it is based on reasoning services with respect to formally defined semantics. Practical results of this systematic discussion are formal definitions of several new reasoning tasks.