A fuzzy logic approach to experience‐based reasoning

Experience‐based reasoning (EBR) is a reasoning paradigm that has been used in almost every human activity such as business, military missions, and teaching activities since early human history. However, EBR has not been seriously studied from either a logical or mathematical viewpoint, although case‐based reasoning (CBR) researchers have paid attention to EBR to some extent. This article will attempt to fill this gap by providing a unified fuzzy logic‐based treatment of EBR. More specifically, this article first reviews the logical approach to EBR, in which eight different rules of inference for EBR are discussed. Then the article proposes fuzzy logic‐based models to these eight different rules of inference that constitute the fundamentals for all EBR paradigms from a fuzzy logic viewpoint, and therefore will form a theoretical foundation for EBR. The proposed approach will facilitate research and development of EBR, fuzzy systems, intelligent systems, knowledge management, and experience management. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 22: 867–889, 2007.