Goals, Desires, Utilities and Preferences

In this paper we study the logic of goals, which are formalized as desires with an utilitarian semantics. In our framework goals have a dual character, because they are constraints on utility functions as well as constructors of these utility functions. The non-monotonic reasoning related to the constructors reeects that goals are used as heuristic approximations of preferences in decision making and planning. Moreover, our framework is based on bipolar additive preferences, where bipolarity means that goals can either result in a gain of utility if achieved, or a loss of utility if not achieved. The framework is used to illustrate diierent types of context-dependence and connicts of goals.