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The term argument is used in two different ways by Cyclists:

  • Most commonly, the term “argument” is used to refer to any CycL term which follows a predicate, a function, a logical connective, or a quantifier in a CycL expression. Thus, in the CycL formula (#$likesAsFriend #$BillM #$Goolsbey), #$likesAsFriend is a predicate, and #$BillM and #$Goolsbey are the first and second arguments to that predicate.
  • The term “argument” is also used to refer to a reason why an assertion is present in the KB with its truth value. Arguments are of two main types: asserted arguments, which essentially state that the formula was explicitly added to Cyc by a user or application program, and deductions, which provide justifications for deduced assertions.