Chain Set and Probability Overview

Abstract

This chapter gives an overview of the problems treated in the chain set or probability logic, of the differences between this logic and traditional propositional and predicate calculus, and of the meaning of probabilities in a theory of logic. The difference between traditional and chain set logic is most marked for IF THEN statements and questions, and for classification- and more general quantification-structures. The latter are treated as a special case of a conjunction of IF THEN statements. An example of a chain set is shown in fig. 2.1, and the chain set notation is summarized in sect. 2.4, and in figures 2.3–2.5. Readers who are interested only in the actual construction of the chain sets, and the presentation of the inference procedures can skip directly to chapter 3.