Skip to main content
Log in

Conditional obligation, deontic paradoxes, and the logic of agency

  • Published:
Annals of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A variant of Belnap's stit-semantics due to Horty and von Kutschera is used to develop a semantics of obligation. A partial completeness result is stated. The semantics is then used to discuss conditional obligation as well as two paradoxes of deontic logic. The paper argues for the importance of an analysis of agency for deontic logic.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. A.R. Anderson, The formal analysis of normative systems, in:The Logic of Decision and Action, ed. N. Rescher (Pittsburgh, 1966).

  2. N. Belnap, Backwards and forwards in the modal logic of agency, unpublished manuscript, Department of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh (1989). Forthcoming in Philos. Phenomen. Res. in early 1993.

  3. N. Belnap, Declaratives are not enough, Philos. Studies 59(1990)1.

    Google Scholar 

  4. N. Belnap, Before refraining: concepts for agency, Erkenntnis 34(1991)137.

    Google Scholar 

  5. N. Belnap and M. Perloff, Seeing to it that: A canonical form for agentives, Theoria 54(1988)175.

    Google Scholar 

  6. H.-N. Castañeda, The paradoxes of deontic logic: The simplest solution to all of them in one fell swoop, in:New Studies in Deontic Logic (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1981).

    Google Scholar 

  7. B.F. Chellas, Time and modality in the logic of agency, unpublished manuscript, Department of Philosophy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada (1991).

    Google Scholar 

  8. R.M. Chisholm, Contrary-to-duty imperatives and deontic logic, Analysis 24(1963)33.

    Google Scholar 

  9. D. Føllesdal and R. Hilpinen, Deontic logic: An introduction, in:Deontic Logic: Introductory and Systematic Readings (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1971).

    Google Scholar 

  10. P.S. Greenspan, Conditional oughts and hypothetical imperatives, J. Philosophy 72(1975)259.

    Google Scholar 

  11. J. Hintikka, Some main problems of deontic logic, in:Deontic Logic: Introductory and Systematic Readings (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1971).

    Google Scholar 

  12. J.-J. Ch. Meyer and R.J. Wieringa, Deontic logic: A concise overview, in:DEON'91 Proceedings, ed. J.-J. Ch. Meyer and R.J. Wieringa (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1991).

  13. A. Prior,Past, Present and Future (Oxford, 1967).

  14. R.H. Thomason, Deontic logic and the role of freedom in moral deliberation, in:New Studies in Deontic Logic (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1981).

    Google Scholar 

  15. R.H. Thomason, Indeterminist time and truth-value gaps, Theoria 36(1970)264.

    Google Scholar 

  16. R.H. Thomason, Combinations of tense and modality, in:Handbook of Philosophical Logic, Vol. II (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1984).

    Google Scholar 

  17. F. von Kutschera, Bewirken, Erkenntnis 24(1986)253.

    Google Scholar 

  18. M. Xu, Logics of deliberativestit, Working Paper, Department of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh (1992).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bartha, P. Conditional obligation, deontic paradoxes, and the logic of agency. Ann Math Artif Intell 9, 1–23 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531259

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531259

Keywords

Navigation