The Logic and Metaphysics Workshop will meet on February 3rd from 2:00-4:00 in-person at the Graduate Center (Room 7395) for a talk by Noah Greenstein (Independent Scholar).

Title: Existentialism, deontic logic and de dicto – de re

Abstract: I investigate how to logically formalize Existentialist obligations, i.e., obligations we have to ourselves and ourselves alone. It is argued that Standard Deontic Logic cannot distinguish between obligations imposed by an external system, like society or a theory of ethics, and self-imposed Existential obligations. A solution to this ambiguity is proposed by applying the De Dicto – De Re distinction to Deontic Logic in the style of Epistemic Logic: by varying the order of the existential quantifier and the modal operator, we can change the interpretation of the statement to represent Existential or external obligations. This leads to a kind of Formal Existentialism, where formal analysis can be applied to Existentialist claims, and new perspectives on standing problems in Deontic Logic.