This volume presents a variety of papers bearing on the relation between
deontic logics, logics of action, and normative systems, i.e. systems of
or about interacting agents (computers, human beings, corporations,
etc.) whose behaviour is subject to ideal constraints that may not
always be fulfilled in practice. The papers range from theoretical
studies of the logical and conceptual tools needed, to studies of
various applications. The set of papers collected in this book should be
of interest to investigators working in a variety of fields, from
philosophy, logic and legal theory to artificial intelligence, computer
and management sciences, since it covers topics ranging from theoretical
research on foundational issues in deontic and action logics, defeasible
reasoning, decision theory, ethical theory, and legal theory, to
research on a variety of issues relevant to applications connected with
expert systems in the law, document specification, automation of
defeasible reasoning, specification of responsibilities and powers in
organizations, normative systems specification, confidentiality in
database systems, and a host of other applications.