Deontic Logic, Agency and Normative Systems: ΔEON ’96: Third International Workshop on Deontic Logic in Computer Science, Sesimbra, Portugal, 11 – 13 January 1996

247 Pages·1996·6.84 MB·English

by  Layman E. Allen (auth.)

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continued on back page ...
Mark A. Brown and Jose Carmo (Eds)
Deontic Logic, Agency and
Normative Systems
LiliON '96: Third International Workshop
on Deontic Logic in Computer Science,
Sesimbra, Portugal, 11-13 January 1996
Published in collaboration with the
British Computer Society
, Springer
Mark A. Brown, PhD
Department of Philosophy, 541 Hall of Languages, Syracuse University,
Syracuse, NY 13244, USA
Jose Carmo, PhD
Department of Mathematics, Instituto Superior Tecnico,
Avenida Rovisco Pais,
1096 Lisboa Codex, Portugal
ISBN-13: 978-3-540-76015-3 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4471-1488-8
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4471-1488-8
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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C British Computer Society 1996
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absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant laws and
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The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of
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Typesetting: Camera ready by contributors
Printed by the Athenaeum Press Ltd., Gateshead
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Preface
This volume presents a variety of papers bearing on the relation between
deontic logics, logics of action, and normative systems, i.e. systems of
or about interacting agents (computers, human beings, corporations,
etc.) whose behaviour is subject to ideal constraints that may not always
be fulfilled in practice. The papers range from theoretical studies of the
logical and conceptual tools needed, to studies of various applications.
The set of papers collected in this book should be of interest to
investigators working in a variety of fields, from philosophy, logic and
legal theory to artificial intelligence, computer and management sciences,
since it covers topics ranging from theoretical research on foundational
issues in deontic and action logics, defeasible reasoning, decision theory,
ethical theory, and legal theory, to research on a variety of issues
relevant to applications connected with expert systems in the law,
document specification, automation of defeasible reasoning, specification
of responsibilities and powers in organizations, normative systems
specification, confidentiality in database systems, and a host of other
applications.
Deontic logic - briefly, the logic of obligation, permission and prohi
bition, of rights, duties, powers and privileges - may be seen as a branch
of applied modal logic that has its origins in the analytic study of law
and ethics. Thus it is natural that some of its earliest applications in
computer science appeared in connection with the construction oflegal
expert systems. However, in recent years investigators in other areas of
computer science and information technology have become interested
in deontic logic as a formal tool. The kinds of applications which have
been considered include the specification offault-tolerant systems and
of integrity constraints for databases, the design of electronic contracting
systems, the design and specification of system security policies, access
control, and other normative aspects of human-computer interaction.
More generally, we may say that deontic logic is useful for the design
and specification of any normative system, seen as any set of interacting
agents (humans or computers) whose behaviour can be regarded as
norm-governed. Norms prescribe how the agents should behave and
specify their rights, but also make provision for the possibility that
actual behaviour may deviate from the ideal. It is precisely this capacity
to describe simultaneously ideal and sub-ideal behaviour that has made
deontic logic so attractive and at the same time subject to so many
paradoxes.
vi Preface
The development of an information society, in which large numbers
of databases - or more generally information systems - are connected
in a network and are accessed and modified by very large numbers of
users, only reinforces the importance of this research. As we develop
policies to ensure the security and integrity of such systems, we must
use such concepts as those of rights, permissions, obligations, authority,
authorisation, responsibility and delegation, among others. If we are to
have any hope of implementing such policies within the system, it is
essential that these concepts be precisely understood and defined, and
not simply treated informally. On the other hand, taking into account
that, at an appropriate level of abstraction, the law, computer systems,
businesses, societies, and many other organizational structures may all
be seen as instances of, or subject to, normative systems, we may easily
see why deontic logic has the wide spectrum of potential application we
have mentioned.
Recognition of these connecting interests has led to the decision to
organize workshops on this topic at roughly two-year intervals, to pro
mote research and co-operation in this interdisciplinary area. The first
workshop (~EON'91) was held in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) in
December 1991, and the second one (~EON'94) was held in Oslo (Norway)
in January 1994. This book collects the contributed papers that are to be
presented at the third such workshop (~EON'96) tp be held in Sesimbra
(Portugal), from 11 to 13 January 1996.
The previous two workshops have already brought together people
working in various aspects of deontic logic. Although we may say that
the prime objective of such workshops has been to show the usefulness
of deontic logic for computer science and related areas, the reverse
direction of influence has also appeared. That is, the interest from other
communities in applying de on tic logic also has contributed to generating
new ideas of how to cope with theoretical and foundational issues in
deontic logic. The development of more subtle semantic tools, including
the application of dynamic logic to deontic problems, provides just one
kind of example. New perspectives on the long-standing "paradoxes" of
deontic logic, and a greater concern with the automation of deontic
reasoning have become visible as well.
With the third workshop (~EON'96) we proposed to broaden the
emphasis slightly, to encourage - even more than in the past -
contributions in the logic of action and its applications, and also to
encourage participation by linguists. Computer scientists are already
familiar with logics of action based on dynamic logic, but are less
familiar with action/agency operators, developed in philosophical
investigations, of the "sees to it that" type. This third workshop will
make some of these investigations more accessible to computer scientists.
In general, we find that deontic logic and the logics of action, agency
and ability, together with epistemic and temporal modalities and with
default reasoning, are all important formal tools for the specification of
different kinds of normative systems.
The topics on which submissions were invited included a wide range
of subjects, ranging from foundational and theoretical issues on deontic
logic, normative languages, and the logic of action, to a list of various
Preface vii
issues arising from applications in computer science and in public and
private administration. The submissions were subject to a process of
blind refereeing and twelve were selected based on the high scientific
quality and originality of the works. Because of the need to allow ample
time for discussions among the participants - one of the main goals of
this interdisciplinary workshop - a number of other excellent papers
could not be accepted. The workshop is complemented with four invited
talks from Nuel Belnap (Pittsburgh University, USA), Andrew Jones
(Oslo University, Norway), Krister Segerberg (Uppsala University,
Sweden) and Marek Sergot (Imperial College, UK). Their papers are not
included in this volume.
The Program Committee consisted of: Mark Brown (Co-Chair,
Syracuse University, USA), Jose Carmo (Co-Chair, 1ST, Portugal), Frederic
Cuppens (ONERA-CERT, France), Jose Fiadeiro (FCUL, Portugal), Risto
Hilpinen (Turku University, Finland), John Horty (Maryland University,
USA), Tom Maibaum (Imperial College, UK), John-Jules Meyer (Utrecht
University, The Netherlands), Henry Prakken (Free University, The
Netherlands), Martin Sadler (Hewlett Packard, UK), Giovanni Sartor
(Bologna University, Italy), Krister Segerberg (Uppsala University,
Sweden), Kazimierz Swirydowicz (Poznan University, Poland), Richmond
Thomason (Pittsburgh University, USA) and Roel Wieringa (Free
University, The Netherlands). Jose Fiadeiro is also the organizer of the
workshop.
The contributions to this volume are organized in alphabetical order
by first author. They cover several topics from the call for papers,
including foundational issues on deontic operators, deontic conditionals
and action logic (in the papers by M. Brown, by J. Horty, by C. Krogh &
H. Herrestad and by Y.-H. Tan & L.W.N. van der Torre); actions, decisions
and commitments, agency, responsibility and norm-governed interac
tion, and formal specification of normative systems (in the papers by
F. Dignum, J.-J. Ch. Meyer, R.J. Wieringa &R. Kuiper and byF. Santos &
J. Carmo); applications to security systems with multiple levels of confi
dentiality (in the paper by F. Cuppens & R. Demolombe); automation
and theoretical aspects of defeasible deontic reasoning (respectively in
the papers by A. Artosi, G. Governatori & G. Sartor and by L. Royakkers
& F. Dignum); analysis of conceptual relations in legal discourse
(L. Allen's paper) and in ethical discourse (P. McNamara's paper); and
the use of tools from category theory to provide a theory of norms
(A. Johanson's paper). Several papers consider the role of preferences
in providing a basis for action in the face of uncertainty or when there is
conflict between applicable norms. We believe that this collection of
papers will be of great interest to all who are concerned with the various
aspects of this interdisciplinary research area.
Mark A. Brown and Syracuse and Lisbon,
Jose Carmo, editors September, 1995
Acknowledgements
This book collects the papers that are to be presented at the Third
International Workshop on Deontic Logic in Computer Science
(AEON'96), to be held at the Hotel do Mar in Sesimbra (Portugal), from
11 to 13 January, 1996.
AEON'96 is sponsored by Andersen Consulting and by Caixa Geral
de Dep6sitos (CGD). AEON'96 is also supported by Associac;:ao Portuguesa
para a Inteligencia Artificial (APPIA), the British Council, Fundac;:ao
Luso-Americana para 0 Desenvolvimento (FLAD) and Junta Nacional de
Investigac;:ao Cientffica e Tecnol6gica (JNICT), as well as by the institutions
of the Chairs of the Organizing Committee and Program Committee: the
Department of Informatics of the Faculty of Sciences of the University
of Lisbon (FCUL), the Departments of Mathematics of the Lisbon Institute
of Technology (1ST) and of the University of Madeira (UMa), and the
Department of Philosophy of Syracuse University. The organizers and
Program Committee are grateful for the support received from all these
sources.
In addition, we wish to thank all the referees for their excellent work
and all the authors that have submitted papers. Weare also grateful to
Nuel Belnap, Andrew Jones, Krister Segerberg and Marek Sergot for
accepting our invitation to give addresses at AEON'96. Finally, we want
to give special thanks to Jose Fiadeiro for making possible both the
arrangement with Springer-Verlag for the publication of this volume
and the Workshop itself, and to Keith van Rijsbergen (editor-in-chief of
Springer's Workshops in Computing series) for accepting the publication
of this book.
Mark A. Brown and Jose Carmo
List of Referees
Mark Brown (Syracuse University, USA)
Jose Carmo (Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal)
Frederic Cuppens (Centre D'Etudes et de Recherches de Toulouse, France)
Jose Fiadeiro (Faculty of Sciences of the University ofLisbon, Portugal)
Risto Hilpinen (Turku University, Finland)
John Horty (University of Maryland, USA)
Andrew Jones (University of Oslo, Norway)
Tom Maibaum (Imperial College, UK)
John-Jules Meyer (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
Henry Prakken (Free University, The Netherlands)
Martin Sadler (Hewlett Packard, UK)
Giovanni Sartor (Bologna University, Italy)
Jeroen Scheerder (Free University, The Netherlands)
Krister Segerberg (Uppsala University, Sweden)
Marek Sergot (Imperial College, UK)
Kazimierz Swirydowicz (Poznan University, Poland)
Rineke Verbrugge (Free University, The Netherlands)
Richmond Thomason (University of Pittsburgh, USA)
Roel Wieringa (Free University, The Netherlands)
Contents
Authors' Addresses and Positions........................................................ xv
From the Fundamental Legal Conceptions of Hohfeld to
Legal Relations: Refining the Enrichment of Solely Deontic
Legal Relations
L.E. Allen ........................................................................................................ 1
Towards a Computational Treatment of Deontic Defeasibility
A. Artosi, G. Governatori and G. Sartor ................................................... 27
Doing as We Ought: Towards a Logic of Simply Dischargeable
Obligations
M.A. Brown .................................................................................................. 47
A Deontic Logic for Reasoning about Confidentiality
F. Cuppens and R. Demolombe .................................................................. 66
A Modal Approach to Intentions, Commitments and
Obligations: Intention plus Commitment Yields Obligation
F. Dignum, J.-J.Ch. Meyer, R.I. Wieringa and R. Kuiper ....................... 80
Combining Agency and Obligation (Preliminary Version)
J.F. Horty....................................................................................................... 98
The Logic of Normative Systems
A.A. Johanson ............................................................................................ 123
Getting Personal: Some Notes on the Relationship Between
Personal and Impersonal Obligation
C. Krogh and H. Herrestad ....................................................................... 134
Must I Do What I Ought? (Or Will the Least I Can Do Do?)
P. McNamara ............................................................................................. 154
Defeasible Reasoning with Legal Rules
L. Royakkers and F. Dignum.................................................................... 174
Indirect Action, Influence and Responsibility
F. Santos and J. Carmo ............................................................................. 194
How to Combine Ordering and Minimizing in a Deontic Logic
Based on Preferences
Y.-H. Tan and L. W.N van der Torre ....................................................... 216
Author Index ......................................................................................... 233