Paraconsistency in hybrid logic

Abstract

As in standard knowledge bases, hybrid knowledge bases (i.e. sets of information specified by hybrid formulas) may contain inconsistencies arising from different sources, namely from the many mechanisms used to collect relevant information. Being a fact, rather than a queer anomaly, inconsistency also needs to be addressed in the context of hybrid logic applications. This article introduces a paraconsistent version of hybrid logic which is able to accommodate inconsistencies at local points without implying global failure. A main feature of the resulting logic, crucial to our approach, is the fact that every hybrid formula has an equivalent formula in negation normal form. The article also provides a measure to quantify the inconsistency of a hybrid knowledge base, useful as a possible basis for comparing knowledge bases. Finally, the concepts of extrinsic and intrinsic inconsistency of a theory are discussed.