[agents] Oct 14th 2021, DEON Seminar Series – opening talk by Marek Sergot

[Huimin DONG]

*DEON Seminar Series – opening talk by Marek Sergot*

2021 is a special year for Deontic Logic. It is the 70th anniversary of the
first publication in modern deontic logic: von Wright’s ground breaking and
still inspiring article from 1951. It is also the 30th anniversary of the
first DEON conference held in Amsterdam in 1991. Today, deontic logic is a
fast-growing field whose research agenda covers topics at the interface
between computer science, linguistics, philosophy, ethics, the social
sciences, and law. Among many other topics, it includes the formal study of
normative multi-agent systems, of defeasible normative reasoning, of the
semantics and pragmatics of normative expressions in natural language, the
formal representation of rights, authorization, delegation, power, and
responsibility, and the study of normative aspects of protocols for
communication, negotiation and multi-agent decision making.

As representatives of the DEON community, we want to take Deontic Logic’s
70th anniversary as an opportunity to look back at its rich history and
draw lessons for the future. As a formal approach to normativity and
reasoning, we believe deontic logic can play new roles as a guiding theory
in some of the problems in modern AI, philosophy, law and linguistics.

To investigate the role of deontic logic in the modern age further, we
decided to launch an online seminar series where old ideas are explained,
new ideas are explored and modern connections and applications are
reflected upon. The seminars are not intended as an alternative to the
biannual DEON conferences, but are complementary opportunities to keep in
touch with the community and listen in or contribute to presentations and
informal discussions on ongoing work. Four times per year (once every
season), we will virtually gather to discuss a topic or a paper, or to
listen to someone’s new results or opinions. Everyone who is interested in
this wonderful area and its questions is welcome.

The series-opening talk – celebrating all the anniversaries – will be given
by Marek Sergot (Professor of Computational Logic, Imperial College London).


*What is deontic logic for?*



*Marek Sergot*



*This will be a review of issues in the development of deontic logic,
understood both narrowly, as the logic of obligation and permission, and
more broadly as the formalisation of normative systems. The talk will be
based on examples. I want to look at how they might be treated in the light
of developments that have taken place over the thirty years since the first
of the DEON series was held in Amsterdam in 1991. I considered calling the
talk ‘Some things I have said about deontic logic that no-one paid
attention to’. However, I will include things that others have said about
deontic logic too. Deontic logic is a wide field; I will have to be
selective about what issues are covered.*


*Date and time*: October 14, 2pm – 3:30pm CET
*Zoom link*: https://uva-live.zoom.us/j/89287004976 (Meeting ID: 892 8700
4976)

*Virtual gathering*: join us for a virtual gathering on wonder.me after the
talk! No registration needed, just follow this *link*:
https://www.wonder.me/r?id=3536c0e5-c486-4ff2-876a-91e569f4190b.


If you are interested in the upcoming events in this series, subscribe here
<https://icr.uni.lu/deonticlogic/mailinglist.html>:

https://icr.uni.lu/deonticlogic/mailinglist.html


See you on the 14th of October,



Ilaria Canavotto, Huimin Dong, and Réka Markovich

DEON Seminar Series organizers



======== Guidelines of Participation =========


1)    Please MUTE your microphone during the talk, and during the Q and A
unless you have been called on to ask a question. (And please do not ask
questions or follow-ups in the Q and A unless you’ve been called on – i.e.,
no interrupting).

2)    If you would like to ask a question during the Q and A, please type
‘q’ in the chat box *to the host privately*. If you have a follow-up,
please type ‘follow up to X’ (where X is the person who asked the
question), also *to the host privately*.

3)    Please frame your questions in a constructive and collegial spirit!



Many thanks in advance!
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