BDI Ontology Core Patterns

Core ontology design patterns for Belief-Desire-Intention mental state modeling.

Class Hierarchy

Mental Entities (Endurants)

bdi:MentalEntity
├── bdi:Belief          # Informational dimension
├── bdi:Desire          # Motivational dimension  
├── bdi:Intention       # Deliberative dimension
├── bdi:Goal            # Description of desired end state
└── bdi:Plan            # Structured action sequence

Mental Processes (Perdurants)

bdi:MentalProcess
├── bdi:BeliefProcess      # Forms/updates beliefs from perception
├── bdi:DesireProcess      # Generates desires from beliefs
├── bdi:IntentionProcess   # Commits to desires as intentions
├── bdi:Planning           # Transforms intentions into plans
└── bdi:PlanExecution      # Executes plan actions

Supporting Entities

bdi:WorldState        # Configuration of environment
bdi:Justification     # Evidential basis for mental states
bdi:Task              # Atomic unit of planned action
bdi:Action            # Execution of a task
bdi:TimeInterval      # Temporal validity bounds
bdi:TimeInstant       # Point in time reference

Object Properties

Motivational Relations

Property	Domain	Range	Description
motivates	Belief	Desire	Belief provides reason for desire
isMotivatedBy	Desire	Belief	Inverse of motivates
fulfils	Intention	Desire	Intention commits to achieving desire
isFulfilledBy	Desire	Intention	Inverse of fulfils
isSupportedBy	Intention	Belief	Beliefs supporting intention viability

Generative Relations

Property	Domain	Range	Description
generates	MentalProcess	MentalEntity	Process creates mental state
isGeneratedBy	MentalEntity	MentalProcess	Inverse of generates
modifies	MentalProcess	MentalEntity	Process updates existing state
suppresses	MentalProcess	MentalEntity	Process deactivates state
isTriggeredBy	MentalProcess	MentalEntity	State initiates process

Referential Relations

Property	Domain	Range	Description
refersTo	MentalEntity	WorldState	Mental state about world
perceives	Agent	WorldState	Agent observes world
bringsAbout	Action	WorldState	Action causes world change
reasonsUpon	MentalProcess	MentalEntity	Input to reasoning

Structural Relations

Property	Domain	Range	Description
hasPart	MentalEntity	MentalEntity	Meronymic composition
specifies	Intention	Plan	Intention defines plan
addresses	Plan	Goal	Plan achieves goal
hasComponent	Plan	Task	Plan contains tasks
precedes	Task	Task	Task ordering

Temporal Relations

Property	Domain	Range	Description
atTime	Entity	TimeInstant	Point occurrence
hasValidity	MentalEntity	TimeInterval	Persistence bounds
hasStartTime	TimeInterval	TimeInstant	Interval start
hasEndTime	TimeInterval	TimeInstant	Interval end

Justification Relations

Property	Domain	Range	Description
isJustifiedBy	MentalEntity	Justification	Evidential support
justifies	Justification	MentalEntity	Inverse relation

Ontological Restrictions

Belief Restrictions

bdi:Belief rdfs:subClassOf [
    a owl:Restriction ;
    owl:onProperty bdi:refersTo ;
    owl:someValuesFrom bdi:WorldState
] .

bdi:Belief rdfs:subClassOf [
    a owl:Restriction ;
    owl:onProperty bdi:hasValidity ;
    owl:maxCardinality 1
] .

Desire Restrictions

bdi:Desire rdfs:subClassOf [
    a owl:Restriction ;
    owl:onProperty bdi:isMotivatedBy ;
    owl:someValuesFrom bdi:Belief
] .

Intention Restrictions

bdi:Intention rdfs:subClassOf [
    a owl:Restriction ;
    owl:onProperty bdi:fulfils ;
    owl:cardinality 1
] .

bdi:Intention rdfs:subClassOf [
    a owl:Restriction ;
    owl:onProperty bdi:isSupportedBy ;
    owl:someValuesFrom bdi:Belief
] .

Mental Process Restrictions

bdi:BeliefProcess rdfs:subClassOf [
    a owl:Restriction ;
    owl:onProperty bdi:generates ;
    owl:allValuesFrom bdi:Belief
] .

bdi:DesireProcess rdfs:subClassOf [
    a owl:Restriction ;
    owl:onProperty bdi:generates ;
    owl:allValuesFrom bdi:Desire
] .

bdi:IntentionProcess rdfs:subClassOf [
    a owl:Restriction ;
    owl:onProperty bdi:generates ;
    owl:allValuesFrom bdi:Intention
] .

DOLCE Alignment

The BDI ontology aligns with DOLCE Ultra Lite (DUL) foundational ontology:

BDI Class	DUL Superclass	Rationale
Agent	dul:Agent	Intentional entity capable of action
Belief	dul:InformationObject	Information-bearing entity
Desire	dul:Description	Describes desired state
Intention	dul:Description	Describes committed course
Goal	dul:Goal	Desired end state description
Plan	dul:Plan	Organized action sequence
WorldState	dul:Situation	Configuration of entities
MentalProcess	dul:Event	Temporally extended occurrence
Task	dul:Task	Unit of planned work
Action	dul:Action	Performed task instance

Reused Ontology Design Patterns

EventCore Pattern

Used for mental processes with temporal aspects and participant roles.

Situation Pattern

Used for world state configurations that mental states reference.

TimeIndexedSituation Pattern

Used for associating mental states with validity intervals.

BasicPlan Pattern

Used for goal-plan-task structures linking intentions to actions.

Provenance Pattern

Used for justification tracking and evidential chains.

Namespace Declarations

@prefix bdi: <https://{w3id}.org/fossr/ontology/bdi/> .
@prefix dul: <http://{www}.ontologydesignpatterns.org/ont/dul/{DUL}.owl#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .