A Rank Based Description Language For Qualitative Preferences

In this paper we develop a language for representing complex qualitative preferences among problem solutions. We use ranked knowledge bases to represent prioritized goals. A basic preference description, that is a ranked knowledge base together with a preference strategy, defines a preference relation on models which represent problem solutions. Our language allows us to express nested combinations of preference descriptions using various connectives. This gives the user the possibility to represent her preferences in a natural, concise and flexible manner.