Defeasible Conditional Obligation in a Two-tiered Preference-based Semantics (Extended Version)
In response to a concern raised by Horty, this paper develops a two-tiered, preference-based semantic framework for modeling defeasible conditional obligations. The paper extends a Hansson-Lewis style preference semantics for dyadic deontic logic by incorporating a nonmonotonic reasoning mechanism that enables previously derived obligations to be withdrawn when new, potentially conflicting information comes in. The account is bi-preferential: two orderings--ideality and normality--on worlds are employed to address shortcomings in earlier approaches, with a separate ranking method for each. At the nonmonotonic layer, a number of postulates are considered, including antecedent strengthening...
| Authors | Xavier Parent |
|---|---|
| Primary category | cs.LO |
| Published | 28 April 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 28 June 2026 |
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