Epistemic Logic and its Applications: Tutorial Notes

It is to the advantage of a thinking creature to be aware of knowledge and thought and to be able to reason about them. If the creature has to interact with other thinking creatures, then reasoning about their mental processes is often necessary to understand and predict their behavior. Even if the creature is alone, stranded on a desert island, the ability to reason about its own mental life will be valuable. A Robinson Crusoe robot will need to make plans involving the gaining and maintaining of knowledge, such as, “If I want to learn my way around the island, I should go to the top of the big hill,” or “If I want to avoid being eaten, I should keep a close watch.”