# ABox Abduction for Inconsistent Knowledge Bases under Repair Semantics

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.01341 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.01341/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 7 of its 26 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 2 May 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [Abduction-Based Explanations for Machine Learning Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.10656/) (2018)
- [Signature-Based Abduction for Expressive Description Logics -- Technical Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.00757/) (2020)
- [Reasoning about Explanations for Negative Query Answers in DL-Lite](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1402.0575/) (2014)
- [Signature-Based Abduction with Fresh Individuals and Complex Concepts for Description Logics (Extended Version)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.00274/) (2021)
- [Connection-minimal Abduction in EL via Translation to FOL -- Technical Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.08449/) (2022)
- [Abductive Reasoning in a Paraconsistent Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.07287/) (2024)
- [Data Complexity of Querying Description Logic Knowledge Bases under Cost-Based Semantics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.07095/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [The More the Merrier: Combining Properties for ABox Abduction under Repair Semantics in ELbot](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.19197/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Given a knowledge base (KB) with a non-entailed fact, the ABox abduction problem asks for possible extensions of the KB that would entail this fact. This problem has many applications, ranging from diagnosis to explainability and repair. ABox abduction has been well-investigated for consistent KBs and classical semantics, but little is known for the case of inconsistent KBs, which can be caused by erroneous data. In this paper we define suitable notions of abduction in this setting and propose criteria that guide abduction towards "useful" hypotheses. To regain meaningful reasoning in the presence of inconsistencies, we use well-established repair semantics. We provide a comprehensive landscape of the complexity of ABox abduction under repair semantics, treating different variants of the abduction problem for the light-weight description logics DL-Lite and EL_bot.