Institution theory is a form of category-based abstract model
theory that is a well established foundation for formal specification
and that has also reformed logic in a profound way.
Many-valued logic represents a non-classical but well studied extension
of traditional logic that goes beyond binary “black and white” truth.
In this talk we will explore the concept many-valued truth with the tool
of institution theory, both from the consequence-theoretic and the semantic
perspectives. We will see how many-valued logic can be treated
abstractly and generically, with the benefit of a deeper understanding of
many-valued truth and of a smooth export of traditional many-logic logic
ideas to unconventional logical environments, many of them playing a
significant role in computer science.
About the Author:
Dr. Razvan Diaconescu, Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy
&ldquot;Simion Stoilow&rdquot;, has received his PhD in Oxford in 1994. He has
co-designed the CafeOBJ specification language and co-implemented EQLOG,
an equational and constraint logic programming system with subtypes and
generic modules. His main work now is on the theory of institutions,
which formalises the notion of logical system and provides a
relativistic view on the notion of logic encompassing most logics that
are actually used in computer science. His book &ldquot;Institution Independent
Model Theory&rdquot; generalises a good portion classical first-order model
theory to an arbitrary logic, formalised as an institution.