Chapter 12

Default Reasoning

Abstract

Commonsense reasoning requires default reasoning. As we engage in commonsense reasoning, we make certain assumptions so that we can proceed. If we later gain more information, then we may have to revise those assumptions. For example, if we are told that Nathan went to sleep, we might assume that he went to sleep in his home. If we are told that he cooked breakfast, we might imagine him in his kitchen. If we later learn that he was actually at a hotel, our understanding of these events will have to be modified. We discuss atemporal default reasoning and then temporal default reasoning. We describe a general method for default reasoning about time based on the circumscription of abnormality predicates and ...

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