V. Lifschitz, ed., formalizing common sense: papers by John McCarthy

Abstract

A review is presented of Lifschitz's collection of seventeen papers written by McCarthy on the subject of common sense. The book opens with a fine overview of McCarthy's research in artificial intelligence (AI). Lifschitz offers an admirably succinct account of the development of McCarthy's ideas on common sense from the early days of AI to his current work. Lifschitz's introduction is especially useful in appreciating the dramatically original and permanently influential nature of McCarthy's work. While McCarthy's papers collected in this volume were written over the span of almost three decades, Lifschitz correctly observes that the underlying concern has always been the same: to understand and model the intellectual ability realized by human common sense.