Definitions of Abstraction

This chapter illustrates in some details the best known models of abstraction proposed in various disciplines. Starting from Floridi’s Method of Abstraction in Philosophy, the explored landscape includes Miles-Smith and Smith’, Goldstein and Storey’s, and Cross’ approaches to abstraction in databases, the Abstract Data Type theory in programming languages, and the whole spectrum of models proposed in Artificial Intelligence, where works by Plaisted, Giunchiglia and Walsh, Nayak and Levy, Hobbs, Imielinski, De Saeger and Shimojima, Ghidini and Giunchiglia are discussed. The chapter also presents some works on reformulation, namely those by Lowry, Choueiry et al., and Subramanian.