# Qualification problem

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{{one source|date=July 2011}}
In [philosophy](/source/philosophy) and [AI](/source/Artificial_intelligence) (especially, [knowledge-based systems](/source/knowledge-based_systems)), the '''qualification problem''' is concerned with the impossibility of listing ''all'' the [precondition](/source/precondition)s required for a real-world action to have its intended effect.<ref name="reiter">{{cite book | last1=Reiter | first1=Raymond | title=Knowledge in Action: Logical Foundations for Specifying and Implementing Dynamical Systems | publisher= The MIT Press | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | year=2001 | pages=20–22 | isbn=9780262527002}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | first1=Michael | last1=Thielscher | title=The Qualification Problem: A solution to the problem of anomalous models | journal = Artificial Intelligence | volume= 131 | issue=1–2 | date=September 2001 | pages=1–37 | doi= 10.1016/S0004-3702(01)00131-X| doi-access=free }}</ref> It might be posed as ''how to deal with the things that prevent me from achieving my intended result''. It is strongly connected to, and opposite the [ramification side](/source/ramification_problem) of, the [frame problem](/source/frame_problem).<ref name="reiter" /> John McCarthy gives the following motivating example, in which it is impossible to enumerate all the circumstances that may prevent a robot from performing its ordinary function:

{{quote|[T]he successful use of a boat to cross a river requires, if the boat is a rowboat, that the oars and rowlocks be present and unbroken, and that they fit each other. Many other qualifications can be added, making the rules for using a rowboat almost impossible to apply, and yet anyone will still be able to think of additional requirements not yet stated.<ref>{{cite journal | first1=John | last1=McCarthy | title=Circumscription: A form of non-monotonic reasoning | journal = Artificial Intelligence | volume = 13 | issue=1–2 | date= April 1980 | pages=27–39 | doi=10.1016/0004-3702(80)90011-9 | url=http://jmc.stanford.edu/articles/circumscription/circumscription.pdf}}</ref>}}

==See also==
*[Non-monotonic logic](/source/Non-monotonic_logic)
*[Circumscription](/source/Circumscription_(logic))

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* John McCarthy "[http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/circumscription/node1.html Introduction: The Qualification Problem]"

Category:Knowledge representation
Category:Logic programming
Category:Epistemology

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