Preface

Abstract

This special issue of the Logic Journal of the IGPL ‘Formal Representations in Model-Based Reasoning and Abduction’ is based on a selection of the papers that were presented at the International Conference Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology. Models and Inferences: Logical, Epistemological, and Cognitive Issues (MBR015_ITALY), held at the Centro Congressi Mediaterraneo, Sestri Levante, Italy, June 25–27, 2015, chaired by Lorenzo Magnani. A previous volume, Model-Based Reasoning in Scientific Discovery , edited by L.~Magnani, N. J. Nersessian, and P. Thagard (Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, 1999; Chinese edition, China Science and Technology Press, Beijing, 2000), was based on the papers presented at the first ‘model-based reasoning’ international conference, held at the University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, in December 1998. Other two volumes were based on the papers presented at the second ‘model-based reasoning’ international conference, held at the same place in May 2001: Model-Based Reasoning. Scientific Discovery, Technological Innovation, Values , edited by L. Magnani and N. J. Nersessian (Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, 2002) and Logical and Computational Aspects of Model-Based Reasoning , edited by L. Magnani, N. J. Nersessian, and C. Pizzi (Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 2002). Another volume, Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Engineering , edited by L. Magnani (College Publications, London, 2006), was based on the papers presented at the third ‘model-based reasoning’ international conference, held at the same place in December 2004. The volume Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Medicine , edited by L. Magnani and P. Li (Springer, Heidelberg/Berlin 2006), was based on the papers presented at the fourth ‘model-based reasoning’ conference, held at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, P. R. China. The volume Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology. Abduction, Logic, and Computational Discovery , edited by L. Magnani, W. Carnielli and C. Pizzi (Springer, Heidelberg/Berlin 2010), was based on the papers presented at the fifth ‘model-based reasoning’ conference, held at the University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil, in December 2009. Finally, the volume Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology. Theoretical and Cognitive Issues , edited by L. Magnani (Springer, Heidelberg/Berlin 2013), was based on the papers presented at the sixth ‘model-based reasoning’ conference, held at Fondazione Mediaterraneo, Sestri Levante, Italy, June 2012.