Normative Analysis of Instituted Processes

Abstract

This chapter refines and formalizes the normative concepts of duty and obligation consistent with the ideas of institutional economics. To do so, deontic logic and normative system philosophy is utilized in order to formalize a methodology that enhances normative description, empirical investigation, and decision making. This formalization assumes the normative sets of social, technological, and ecological criteria as expressed in the social fabric matrix, and is grounded in the concepts of prohibition, obligation, and permission as emphasized by Karl Polanyi and John R. Commons. The deontic system necessary for a society to integrate authority and processing institutions to create and fulfill normative criteria through rules, regulations, and requirements is developed in a temporal setting. This explanation does not suggest that real-world normative systems are harmonious or continuous, or that they maintain commonality of normative criteria, avoid excess or inadequate redundancy, and are without gaps and conflict. In fact, it is quite to the contrary. The explanation is structured so studies can be completed to find the gaps, discontinuity, disharmony, and conflicts. Given the fragility of the modern world, analytical tools that assist in this task are of paramount concern.

Appendix: Symbol Reference

SFM:

social fabric matrix

Ph:

prohibited or forbidden

O:

 obligation or obligatory

P:

permission or permitted

N_B :

social belief norms or criteria

N_T :

technological norms or criteria

N_E :

ecological norms or criteria

n_B1, n_B2, and n_B3 :

subnorms or subcriteria of N_B

n_T1 and n_T2 :

subnorms or subcriteria of N_T

n_E1 and n_E2 :

subnorms or subcriteria of N_E

I_A1 :

authority institution for making rules

I_A2 :

authority institution for making regulations

I_p :

processing institution for delivering requirements

r:

rules

re:

regulations

rq:

requirements

E:

event happening or occasion

F:

situational property of a high volume of water in the river

G:

situational property of high soil temperature

H:

situational property of spreading waste

S:

situation

U:

action to spread waste to solve a problem

W:

subaction of U

X:

subaction of U

Y:

subaction of U

Z:

subaction of U

h:

human entities

t:

technological entities

e:

ecological entities

n :

number

∼:

negation

&:

conjunction

V:

disjunction

É:

directs or necessarily implies

↔:

equivalence

/:

given