Fuzzy logic of Aristotelian forms
- Nichols Research Corp., Lexington, MA (United States)
Model-based approaches to pattern recognition and machine vision have been proposed to overcome the exorbitant training requirements of earlier computational paradigms. However, uncertainties in data were found to lead to a combinatorial explosion of the computational complexity. This issue is related here to the roles of a priori knowledge vs. adaptive learning. What is the a-priori knowledge representation that supports learning? I introduce Modeling Field Theory (MFT), a model-based neural network whose adaptive learning is based on a priori models. These models combine deterministic, fuzzy, and statistical aspects to account for a priori knowledge, its fuzzy nature, and data uncertainties. In the process of learning, a priori fuzzy concepts converge to crisp or probabilistic concepts. The MFT is a convergent dynamical system of only linear computational complexity. Fuzzy logic turns out to be essential for reducing the combinatorial complexity to linear one. I will discuss the relationship of the new computational paradigm to two theories due to Aristotle: theory of Forms and logic. While theory of Forms argued that the mind cannot be based on ready-made a priori concepts, Aristotelian logic operated with just such concepts. I discuss an interpretation of MFT suggesting that its fuzzy logic, combining a-priority and adaptivity, implements Aristotelian theory of Forms (theory of mind). Thus, 2300 years after Aristotle, a logic is developed suitable for his theory of mind.
- OSTI ID:
- 466430
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9610138--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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