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    Classic AI: search, logic & planning· 1980

    Circumscription—A form of non-monotonic reasoning

    John McCarthy (first author) · 1980

    Read the original

    DOI 10.1016/0004-3702(80)90011-9OpenAlex W2945259913

    On the reading lists

    Why it matters

    Introduced logical minimization to formalize commonsense assumptions and exceptions.

    Condensed from the expert lists' notes.

    The record

    First released
    1980 (from OpenAlex)
    Citations
    2,017 citations, as counted by OpenAlex (CC0)
    Named by
    both expert lists
    Score
    0.443 · computed rank 302 · consensus 0.7, must-read 0.5, citations percentile 0.524 (1980s · classic-ai), awards 0, existing lists 0. Method

    Editor's notes

    • Readability check: pass: McCarthy's circumscription; a classic of reasoning. (AI draft (Claude), not yet reviewed, 2026-10-29)

    Data sources

    Catalogue data from OpenAlex (CC0), Crossref (CC0 metadata; no abstracts are shown), arXiv, and Papers With Code (CC BY-SA 4.0). Each count names its source. See the method.