Deontic Logic with Action Types and Tokens

A new characterization of the deontic operators of permission and prohibition is introduced based on a distinction between action types and action tokens. The resulting deontic action logic constitutes a hyperintensional system providing resources for a fine-grained study of the basic deontic notions. The logic is proved to be complete with respect to an appropriate semantics, where models include both possible worlds and action tokens, and the philosophical significance of the distinction is demonstrated by showing that a number of puzzles afflicting current accounts of the deontic operators find intuitive solutions in the new framework.