PARTIAL DEDUCTIVE CLOSURE - LOGICAL SIMULATION AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCE

This research is part of a larger effort to build machine-based tools for developing scientific theories. In analogy with the research proce ss in empirical research, we describe a logical cycle of theory develo pment: (1) starting with an informal version of a theory, (2) then mov ing to its formal representation, (3) applying formal logic to investi gate this representation, and (4) using the results as feedback for th e update/revision of the original theory. A central aspect of the logi cal cycle is the detection of the (hidden) implications of a theory (c alled ''partial deductive closure''). In this paper, we present an alg orithm that performs the partial deductive closure for a relevant clas s of theorems, while filtering out trivial results. The algorithm is a pplied to an important organization theory, Organizational Ecology, an d is shown to generate new theorems of interest.