DEONTIC LOGIC

This is the branch of logic that investigates the logic of obligation, with particular appli­cation to moral theory. For example, suppose we define xAy to mean that person x per­forms action ó.

Now we may articulate some precepts of moral theory as follows (with x implicitly taken to range over persons and ó over actions):

i.e., it is not necessarily the case that if a person performs an action, that person is obliged to perform that action.

EXERCISE 24.3

Symbolize the following statements in deontic logic:

(a) Some permissible actions are not necessary.

(b) It is not necessary for everyone to perform every action that is obligatory.

24.4