Reasoning Systems as Structured Processes: Foundations, Failures, and Formal Criteria

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Nikooroo, Saleh, Engel, Thomas
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Nikooroo, Saleh
Engel, Thomas
author_facet Nikooroo, Saleh
Engel, Thomas
contents This paper outlines a general formal framework for reasoning systems, intended to support future analysis of inference architectures across domains. We model reasoning systems as structured tuples comprising phenomena, explanation space, inference and generation maps, and a principle base. The formulation accommodates logical, algorithmic, and learning-based reasoning processes within a unified structural schema, while remaining agnostic to any specific reasoning algorithm or logic system. We survey basic internal criteria--including coherence, soundness, and completeness-and catalog typical failure modes such as contradiction, incompleteness, and non-convergence. The framework also admits dynamic behaviors like iterative refinement and principle evolution. The goal of this work is to establish a foundational structure for representing and comparing reasoning systems, particularly in contexts where internal failure, adaptation, or fragmentation may arise. No specific solution architecture is proposed; instead, we aim to support future theoretical and practical investigations into reasoning under structural constraint.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_01763
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Reasoning Systems as Structured Processes: Foundations, Failures, and Formal Criteria
Nikooroo, Saleh
Engel, Thomas
Artificial Intelligence
Logic in Computer Science
This paper outlines a general formal framework for reasoning systems, intended to support future analysis of inference architectures across domains. We model reasoning systems as structured tuples comprising phenomena, explanation space, inference and generation maps, and a principle base. The formulation accommodates logical, algorithmic, and learning-based reasoning processes within a unified structural schema, while remaining agnostic to any specific reasoning algorithm or logic system. We survey basic internal criteria--including coherence, soundness, and completeness-and catalog typical failure modes such as contradiction, incompleteness, and non-convergence. The framework also admits dynamic behaviors like iterative refinement and principle evolution. The goal of this work is to establish a foundational structure for representing and comparing reasoning systems, particularly in contexts where internal failure, adaptation, or fragmentation may arise. No specific solution architecture is proposed; instead, we aim to support future theoretical and practical investigations into reasoning under structural constraint.
title Reasoning Systems as Structured Processes: Foundations, Failures, and Formal Criteria
topic Artificial Intelligence
Logic in Computer Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.01763