Abstract
In this chapter we start the task of formalizing abductive diagnostic problem-solving. As revealed by examples in Chapter 2, such formalization will involve diagnostic entities (disorders, manifestations, intermediate states), the causal associations relating these entities, the notion of diagnostic explanation, and very importantly, the process of hypothesize-and- test reasoning. Our ultimate goal is to derive a formal model that captures a significant part of the causal knowledge and inference method described in the previous chapters.
“And where a Mathematical Reasoning can be had, it is as great a Folly to make use of any other, as to grope for a Thing in the Dark, when you have a Candle standing by you.”
John Arbuthnot, On the Laws of Chance
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© 1990 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Peng, Y., Reggia, J.A. (1990). Basics of Parsimonious Covering Theory. In: Abductive Inference Models for Diagnostic Problem-Solving. Symbolic Computation. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8682-5_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8682-5_3
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-6450-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-8682-5
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