The threefold role of the logical value of norms

LORINI, GIUSEPPE

2008-01-01

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Abstract

The essay “The Threefold Role of the Logical Value of Norms” is a work of philosophy of deontic logic. In this essay, the author investigates the concept of logical value of norms. Starting from the analysis of five predicates (properties) which the deontic logicians ante litteram (i.e. those logicians who have investigated the logic of normative entities before the deontic logic was founded in 1951 by Georg Henrik von Wright) have considered to be logical values of norms, the author distinguishes three different roles played by the logical value of norms: (i) firstly, the logical value of norms is the predicate that allows to define the meaning of deontic logical connectives; (ii) secondly, the logical value of norms is that “hereditary predicate” that is transmitted from the (deontic) premises to the deontic conclusion in a deontic syllogism; (iii) thirdly, the logical value of norms is the predicate (analogous to truth) that allows to apply the logical principles to norms.