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Conditions for the acceptance of deontic conditionals
D E Over1, K I Manktelow, C Hadjichristidis
1Division of Psychology, University of Sunderland, UK. david.over@sunderland.ac.uk
Summary
People judge deontic conditionals (rules) acceptable based on whether the outcome where both conditions are met is preferred over the outcome where the first condition is met but the second is not. This impacts deontic reasoning.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Cognitive Science
- Decision Theory
Background:
- Research explores how individuals evaluate the probability and acceptability of indicative conditionals.
- Deontic conditionals, involving obligation or permission, present unique challenges in acceptability judgments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the basis for judging the acceptability of deontic conditionals.
- To propose and test a decision-theoretic model for deontic conditional acceptability.
Main Methods:
- A decision-theoretic analysis was employed to predict acceptability judgments.
- Two experiments were conducted to empirically test the predictions derived from the model.
Main Results:
- Judgments of deontic conditional acceptability align with preferences between joint possibilities (p&q vs. p¬-q).
- The pragmatic suitability of permission rules is influenced by evaluations of the not-p&q possibility.
Conclusions:
- Acceptability of deontic conditionals is rooted in decision-theoretic preferences.
- Findings offer insights into the mechanisms of deontic reasoning and rule evaluation.