Object Determination Logic – A Categorization System

In categorization theory, there are two main approaches : - the bottom-up approach - starting from objects to classify and construct clusters in conformity with a similarity measure. - the top-down approach - starting from some criteria to generate objects satisfying them. We propose a new approach basically distinct from the previous ones, which allows the representation of two cognitive dimensions not taken into account by classical approaches : the notion of more or less determined object and the notion of typicality. Our approach turns to a logic called Object Determination Logic (ODL). This paper presents the basic elements of ODL and the aspects giving it the status of a categorization system.