A Syntax-based Approach to Reasoning about Action and Belief Update

In this paper, we introduce an alternative approach to reasoning about action. The approach provides a solution to the frame and the ramification problem in a uniform manner. The approach involves keeping a (syntax-based) model of the world that is updated when actions are performed. Our approach is similar to the STRIPS system in which formulas are deleted and added as effects of an action. The presented framework however does not suffer from STRIPS' limitations in expressivity.

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