A computer program capable of acting intelligently in the world must have a general representation of the world in terms of which its inputs are interpreted. Designing such a program requires commitments about what knowledge

The focus of this paper is nonmonotonic reasoning as it relates to logic programming. I discuss the pre-history of nonmonotonic reasoning starting from approximately 1958. I then review the research that has been accomplished in the areas of circumscription, default theory, modal theories and logic programming. The overview includes the major results developed including complexity results that are known about the various theories. I then provide a summary which includes an assessment of the field and what must be done to further research in nonmonotonic reasoning and logic programming. 1 Introduction Classical logic has played a major role in computer science. It has been an important tool both for the development of architecture and of software. Logicians have contended that reasoning, as performed by humans, is also amenable to analysis using classical logic. However, workers in the field of artificial 1 This paper is an updated version of an invited Banquet Address, First Interna...