Logical consequence, reasoning and computation (logcons) and sistemics, self-organization and information

• Grant number: 12/51655-4
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Technical Reserve for Institutional Research Infrastructure
• Duration: February 01, 2013 - May 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - Logic
• Principal Investigator: Walter Alexandre Carnielli
• Grantee: Walter Alexandre Carnielli
• Host Institution: Centro de Lógica, Epistemologia e História da Ciência (CLE). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

1) The notion of logical inference is of fundamental importance not only in all forms of argumentation (be it formal or informal) but also in several aspects of computing. The study of logical inference for applications requires the understanding of combinations of logical mechanisms in several guises. This project is focused on specific methods for combining logics and their semantical, algebraic and computational aspects of the resulting combined systems. Intimately related to such questions are the quest for efficiency, quantum logics and quantum computation arise as an important research area. The formidable speedup of technology requires multidisciplinary researchers involved in the hard task of providing efficient alternatives to traditional methods of inference. To cope with this challenge, the project involves 22 researchers with different backgrounds from USP and UNICAMP with the support of 8 researchers from three international research institutions. 2) The central problem to be investigated in this Thematic Project is the epistemological status of self-organizing processes in complex systems. The project's research it will be methodologically divided into the following sub-problems: What is the epistemological status of the processes of self-organization supposedly present in certain complex systems, especially in informational and cognitive systems? What is the role of such processes in the constitutive dynamics of the habits present in day-to-day action and commom knowledge? What are the difficulties faced in the modeling of self-organizing processes, with regard to the incompleteness of the formalism used to describe the spontaneity observed in the dynamics of certain classes of complex systems? We argue that general definition of the concept of self-organization and an outline of a theory of self- organization, based on systems theory and the theory of informations, can contribute to the epistemological analysis of the dynamics of certain classes of complex systems. The research will be conducted in an interdisciplinary environment, involving the areas of philosophy, logic, mathematics, physics, biology, sociology and engineering. (AU)