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The paper tackles the problem of the relation between rights and obligations. Two examples of situations in which such a relation occurs are discussed. One concerns the abortion regulations in Polish law, the other one—a clash between freedom of expression and freedom of enterprise occurring in the context of discrimination. The examples are analysed and formalised using labelled transition systems in the $$n\mathcal {C}+$$ n C + framework. Rights are introduced to the system as procedures allowing for their fulfilment. Obligations are based on the requirement of cooperation in the realisation of the goals of the agent that has a right. If the right of an agent cannot be fulfilled without an action of another agent, then that action is obligatory for that agent. If there are many potential contributors who are individually allowed to refuse, then the last of them is obliged to help when all the others have already refused. By means of formalisation this account of the relation under consideration is precisely expressed and shown consistent.

The main idea behind GraphChain is to use blockchain mechanisms on top of abstract RDF graphs. This paper presents an implementation of GraphChain in the Hyperledger Indy framework. The whole setting is shown to be applied to the RDF graphs containing information about Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs). The blockchain based data management system presented in the paper preserves all the benefits of using RDF data model for the representation of LEI system reference data, including powerful querying mechanisms, explicit semantics and data model extensibility with the security and non-repudiation of LEIs as the digital identifiers for legal entities.

In this paper we present a new idea of creating a Blockchain compliant distributed database which exposes its data with explicit semantics, is easily and natively accessible, and which applies Blockchain securitization mechanisms to the RDF graph data model directly, without additional packaging or specific serialisation. Essentially, the resulting database forms the linked chain of named RDF graphs and is given a name: GraphChain. Such graphs can then be published with the help of any standard mechanisms using triplestores or as linked data objects accessible via standard web mechanisms using the HTTP protocol to make them available on the web. They can also be easily queried using techniques like SPARQL or methods typical to available RDF graphs frameworks (like rdflib, Apache Jena, RDF4J, OWL API, RDF HDT, dotnetRDF and others). The GraphChain concept comes with its own, OWL-compliant ontology that defines all the structural, invariant elements of the GraphChain and defines their basic semantics. The paper describes also a few simple, prototypical GraphChain implementations with examples created using Java, .NET/C# and JavaScript/Node.js frameworks.

The topic of this paper are the so-called tensed relations, i.e., those relations that hold between objects with respect to time. As tensed relations are not, almost by definition, binary relations, they need a special treatment in the case of such formal languages as OWL where only binary relations are explicitly expressible. We study in this paper a number of ways in which this expressivity constraint can be worked around focusing only on the solutions that seek their rationale in a philosophical argument of some sort. Besides fleshing out the details of those patterns we compare them to one another to show their strengths and limitations in various usage scenarios.

The paper offers a logical characterisation of multi-step actions in the context of deontic notions of obligation, permission and prohibition. Deontic notions for sequentially composed actions (procedures or instructions) are founded on deontic notions for one-step actions. The present work includes a formal study of situations where execution of a multi-step action has been unsuccessful and provides normative analysis of such actions.

The paper tackles two problems. The first one is to grasp the real meaning of Jerzy Kalinowski's theory of normative sentences. His formal system K 1 is a simple logic formulated in a very limited language (negation is the only operator defined on actions). While presenting it Kalinowski formulated a few interesting philosophical remarks on norms and actions. He did not, however, possess the tools to formalise them fully. We propose a formulation of Kalinowski's ideas with the use of a set-theoretical frame similar to the one presented by Krister Segerberg in his A Deontic Logic of Action. At the same time we enrich the language used by Kalinowski with more operators on actions (parallel execution and free choice) and present an adequate axiomatisation of the resulting system. That allows us to disclose some unrevealed aspects of Kalinowski's theory. The most important one is a relation between acts which we call moral indiscernibility. Our second problem is a proper understanding of moral indiscernibility. We show how a repertoire of agent's actions, defined with the use of simple observable elements of actions, can be filtrated by the relation of moral indiscernibility. That allows us to understand the consequences of Kalinowski's claim that not doing something good is always bad.

Building on our diverse research traditions in the study of reasoning, language and communication, the Polish School of Argumentation integrates various disciplines and institutions across Poland in which scholars are dedicated to understanding the phenomenon of the force of argument. Our primary goal is to craft a methodological programme and establish organisational infrastructure: this is the first key step in facilitating and fostering our research movement, which joins people with a common research focus, complementary skills and an enthusiasm to work together. This statement—the Manifesto—lays the foundations for the research programme of the Polish School of Argumentation.

The need for a logic that allows us to reason about conflicting and non-conflicting norms has recently emerged in the domain of self-driving cars. In this paper we propose a formal model that supports moral decisions making by autonomous agents such as for example autonomous vehicles. Such a model – which we call a “Deontic Machine” – helps resolve both typical and atypical moral and legal situations that agents may encounter. The Deontic Machine has two sources of inspiration. The first one is W.D. Ross’s theory of prima facie norms and the other one is a deontic multi-valued logic. The main contribution of this paper is bringing together conceptual and technical tools of deontic logic to show how they can be used to control or assess the behaviour of a self-driving car.

The aim of the paper is to provide a metalogical systematisation in thearea of deontic action logic based on Boolean algebra. Differences amongthe systems involve two aspects: the level of closedness of a deontic actionlogic and the possibility of performing no action at all. It is also shownthat the existing definitions of obligation in these systems are unacceptabledue to their non-intuitive interpretation or paradoxical consequences. As asolution we propose a minimal axiomatic characterisation of obligation withan adequate class of models. The paper also describes how deontic actionlogic can be used to answer the questions from the Polish driving license test.Keywords: deontic action logic, obligation, principle of obligationeconomy, closedness, action theoryIntroductionWithin computer science, logical systems are usually designed with aspecific application in mind. Reusability of those systems depends largelyon their more general comparative analysis and the awareness of their pre-suppositions and consequences. The ready-made system, with well knowncharacteristics and properties, can be then used for new applications. Forthis reason we provide a metalogical systematisation in the area of deonticaction logic based on Boolean algebra.A Deontic Logic of Action [19], an article published by K. Segerberg in1982 was a milestone in the development of the logic in question since the1950s, when G. H. von Wright [26] and J. Kalinowski [10], published their

The paper defines a schema in which to describe the cornucopia applied ontologies. In contradistinction to the main trend in engineering meta-ontology the main ideas that support this schema are inspired by philosophy. Namely, we look at the domain of applied ontologies from the point of view of a certain metaphilosophical tradition. In a nutshell, we identify an applied ontology by means of i a description of its language, ii the employed methodology if any, iii a description of sources of ontological knowledge used in its development if any, iv a description of its domain, v the list of its categories if any, and vi a description of its use if any. The final result of our considerations is an engineering artefact, i.e., an OWL ontology. For the sake of validation we employ it to describe several applied ontologies of diverse kinds.

The paper offers a semantic representation of one of the sixteen UNECE standards for meat. The content of the standard is briefly presented in a natural language. Then, the methodology is discussed. Simple Knowledge Organisation System (SKOS) is chosen as the basis of the representation. A limited number of ontological object properties extending SKOS are used to represent relations among beef cuts such as the relation of being prepared from. The advantages of the representation are discussed, especially the possibility of the use of reasoning mechanisms, as well as its flexibility and robustness. This paper also sketches a vision of a larger project aimed at semantic representation of all UNECE meat standards and their joining into a network of Web vocabularies such as Schema.org and GS1. A web application to browse the UNCECE standard for beef and SPARQL endpoint to query it are also provided.

The paper presents a formalisation of one of the leading ontologies in Knowledge Management by the name of Formal Knowledge Management Ontology. After elaborating why the latter ontology is not a formal ontology in the sense of logic and how it might benefit from being logic-based, we detail a logical theory Formalised Formal Knowledge Management Ontology (F2KMO) that incorporates its main ideas and tenets. In particular, we specify the primitive, that is, undefined terms we assume, the axioms whose role is to fix the meanings of those terms, and a number of definitions that correspond to the definitions one may find in the latest exposition of Formal Knowledge Management Ontology. We show that F2KMO is consistent and prove its usefulness by defining the logical schema of a database based on the theory.

We address the problem of the access to the results of scientific publications in the agri-food domain. We focus on the description of main contributions of the papers treating them as accepted or rejected beliefs of their authors expressed in the form of scientific laws. We define the structure of different kinds of scientific laws present in the domain in the form of an ontology. The main concern of the paper is a process in which we proceed from the abstracts of papers to the ontological representation of laws. Moreover, we present examples of SPARQL queries which show how the resulting knowledge base can be used. Among the uses we point out discovering new scientific hypotheses and incoherencies among scientific laws.

This volumedescribes and analyzes in a systematic way the great contributions of the philosopher Krister Segerberg to the study of real and doxastic actions. Following an introduction which functions as a roadmap to Segerberg's works on actions, the first part of the book covers relations between actions, intentions and routines, dynamic logic as a theory of action, agency, and deontic logics built upon the logics of actions. The second section explores belief revision and update, iterated and irrevocable beliefs change, dynamic doxastic logic and hypertheories.Segerberg has worked for more than thirty years to analyze the intricacies of real and doxastic actions using formal tools - mostly modal (dynamic) logic and its semantics. He has had such a significant impact on modal logic that "It is hard to roam for long in modal logic without finding Krister Segerberg's traces," as Johan van Benthem notes in his chapter of this book.

In the paper we present a formal system motivated by a specific methodology of creating norms. According to the methodology, a norm-giver before establishing a set of norms should create a picture of the agent by creating his repertoire of actions. Then, knowing what the agent can do in particular situations, the norm-giver regulates these actions by assigning deontic qualifications to each of them. The set of norms created for each situation should respect (1) generally valid deontic principles being the theses of our logic and (2) facts from the ontology of action whose relevance for the systems of norms we postulate.