Deductive Reasoning Systems

This article explains the relevance of reasoning for prediction and explanation, i.e., for abilities which are fundamental for human survival. Since humans are prone to mistakes in their reasoning, reasoning systems offer desirable support. Deductive reasoning systems operate on a model of reasoning which results from a number of abstractions applied to human reasoning, which concern the language, the inferential relationship, and the syntactic nature of inference. By way of these abstractions, other modes of reasoning such as inductive reasoning are also covered. Basic issues concerning research in deductive systems, their performance and applications are summarized.