COMMENT ⊗   VALID 00002 PAGES
C REC  PAGE   DESCRIPTION
C00001 00001
C00002 00002	Dear Professor Dale:
C00005 ENDMK
C⊗;
Dear Professor Dale:

	I can enthusiastically recommend Vladimir Lifschitz for a
joint appointment as a full professor in computer science and
philosophy.

	It is becoming more and more clear that the formalization
of common sense knowledge and reasoning in mathematical logic is
the key to many common problems faced by both artificial
intelligence and philosophy.  In artificial intelligence, it is the
key to the creation of a database of knowledge of the world that
can be used by AI problems working in a great variety of domains
or by a general purpose robot.  In philosophy, I think it is the
key to many problems in the philosophy of action and the philosophy
of mind.

	Lifschitz is the strongest mathematical logician of all the
people who have made significant contributions to this field.
Most mathematical logicians don't understand what has to be formalized
in order to make a program that can solve problems involving action.

	Among the people who formalize action, Lifschitz is both
a major contributor and the mathematical conscience of the field.
He is the authority on whether the formalisms really mean what
the originator hopes they mean or whether they have models not
intended by the authors.

	In nonmonotonic reasoning he is the author of several important
variants circumscription and other nonmonotonic formalisms.  In my
opinion, his pointwise circumscription contains ideas that will
prove necessary for the common sense database.