  This paper analyses the declarative readings of logic programming. Logic
programming - and negation as failure - has no unique declarative reading. One
common view is that logic programming is a logic for default reasoning, a
sub-formalism of default logic or autoepistemic logic. In this view, negation
as failure is a modal operator. In an alternative view, a logic program is
interpreted as a definition. In this view, negation as failure is classical
objective negation. From a commonsense point of view, there is definitely a
difference between these views. Surprisingly though, both types of declarative
readings lead to grosso modo the same model semantics. This note investigates
the causes for this.

Logic in Computer Science;Artificial Intelligence