A Formal Symbolic Framework for Structure-Based Reasoning

Acknowledgements I'd like to acknowledge the support of the many people that have helped me throughout my career at Roosevelt University. In particular, this thesis could not be completed without the support of the following people:-Dr. Eric Berkowitz, for listening to all of my crazy ideas and helping me develop a few of the decent ones. Your continual habit of reducing problems to their philosophical principles inspired this thesis in a big way.-Dr. Samuel Rosenberg, director of the Honors Program, without whom I would not have the opportunity to pursue this thesis, nor the opportunity to participate in the Honors program. Thanks for believing in me.-Dr. James Kenevan, for general moral support and encouraging me to pursue my research ideas.-Kyle Schmitt, for help in developing the incremental alignment algorithm which appears in Chapter 4.-And, most of all, my parents, without whose help, patience, and support I could never have completed this work.