We propose an approach to reasoning about conversation protocols within the framework of a logic-based agent language. We show how to embed a theory of communicative actions in the framework of a modal logic of action and beliefs, to specify software agents that, situated in a multi-agent environment, can interact with one another by a speech act based communication mechanism. Agents have their...

In this article the following thesis is explained and substantiared: Sense and meaning of mathematics finally lie in the fact that mathematics is able to support the rational communication of humans. The essence of the argumentation is that the effective support becomes possible by the close connection between mathematics and logic (in the sense of Peirce’s late philosophy) by which, in his tur...

One of the most powerful theoretical conceptions behind current research in pragmatics is the idea that a theory of linguistic communication is really only a special case of a general theory of human action. According to this view, the various linguistic subdisciplines such as phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics should be regarded as the studies of different abstract aspects of underlyi...

The article discusses the appropriation of the theory developed by Habermas to analyze health policies and management. The fundamental concepts of the discursive theory of democracy as a deliberative policy, procedural democracy, the public sphere and civil society are analyzed. An attempt is made to demonstrate that the concepts of deliberative policies are grounded on basic theoretical catego...

Negotiation support is an important challenge for business-to-business e-commerce that is still poorly supported in current information systems. One reason is that negotiation processes are much harder to formalize than the business processes in the fulfilment phase. The goal of this paper is to provide the basis for a formal analysis of different types of electronic negotiations which can help...

The paper fixes a formalization of dynamic epistemic logic, loosely based on Baltag, Moss, Solecki [1], and proves a number of useful facts about epistemic update logic. In particular, the notion of an action emulation is proposed as a notion of equivalence more appropriate for action models than bisimulation. It is proved that every bisimulation is an action emulation, but not vice versa, and ...

Japanese adverbs are classified as either declarative or normal; the former declare the communicative intention of the speaker, while the latter convey a manner of action, a quantity, or a degree by which the adverb modifies the verb or adjective that it accompanies. We have automatically classified adverbs as either declarative or not declarative using a machine-learning method such as the max...

The transmission of cultural knowledge requires learners to identify what relevant information to retain and selectively imitate when observing others' skills. Young human infants--without relying on language or theory of mind--already show evidence of this ability. If, for example, in a communicative context, a model demonstrates a head action instead of a more efficient hand action, infants i...