The temporal interpretation of events is crucial to many applications of natural language understanding. Interpreting events as described in individual utterances and discourse requires both semantic and pragmatic processing. We develop representations for events that reflect the internal structure of different situation types. We propose semantic constraints through which the representations o...

I develop an interpretation of reason using the thought of David Hume and Adam Smith. I contend that reason in Hume and Smith can plausibly be interpreted as a kind of sensation. Reason is a sensation in that it is a sentimental conception of the relationship between two objects that impels certain interpretations. Reason is developed sympathetically in experiential contexts that not only guide...

If compliance with a norm does not achieve its purpose, then its applicability must dynamically be restricted or expanded. Legal interpretation is a mechanism from law allowing norms to be adapted to unforeseen situations. We model this mechanism for norms regulating computer systems by representing the purpose of norms by social goals and by revising the constitutive rules defining the applica...

Natural language processing (NLP) is often based on declaratively represented grammars with emphasis on the competence of an ideal speaker/hearer. In contrast to these broadly used methods, we present a procedural and performance-oriented approach to the analysis of natural language expressions. The method is based on the idea that each word-class can be connected with a functional construct, t...

This paper discusses how Information Extraction is used to understand and manage Dialogue in the EU-funded Companions project. This will be discussed with respect to the Senior Companion, one of two applications under development in the EU-funded Companions project. Over the last few years, research in human-computer dialogue systems has increased and much attention has focused on applying lear...