Classification and deontic explosion for contrary-to-duty obligations
Bjørn Kjos-Hanssen · 2026 · arXiv
WASTE classifies this as Negative / Null Result Report · AI classification, approximate
The study found no significant effect — useful as a negative control or null benchmark for your own design.
Abstract (excerpt)
Carmo and Jones have presented a sequence of candidate axiom systems for conditional obligation between 1997 and 2022. For their most recent system we demonstrate a limited form of deontic explosion: given that a student does not get the highest possible grade on a test, any other passing grade is acceptable. In addition to that negative result, we give a positive one: revisiting the strongest version of Carmo and Jones' 1997 system, we provide a surprising classification of all satisfying models in terms of a single forbidden possible world.
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Metadata source: arXiv