Rich deontic logic: A preliminary study (Q598541)

For some time, it has widely been agreed that if deontic logic is to be applied to real-life situations, it should be rich enough to represent not only propositions, but also the passage of time, agents and their actions, events and states, causation, and possibly even more. The paper under review seeks to make some first steps in bringing together systems for such components that have already been developed separately in the literature. It makes particular use of the work of \textit{M. Xu} [``Causation as branching time. I: Transitions, events and causes'', Synthese 112, 137--192 (1997; Zbl 0931.03008)]. The presentation is also influenced by the author's position that even on the purely propositional level, deontic logic needs two quite different obligation operators. Both state that an item is required. But one does so in the minimal sense that the item is necessary for meeting some motivating obligation; while the other does so in the maximal sense that the item also suffices to fully discharge the motivating obligation.