On negative antecedents in deontic conditionals

Abstract

This paper investigates the semantics of deontic modals. It focuses on the interplay between primary and secondary duties. The paper pays particular attention to secondary duties reported in conditionals with negative antecedents. It is claimed that this kind of example provides relevant insights into the semantics of deontic modals, shedding light on the relation between facts and ideals that is relevant to the evaluation of deontic claims. The paper proposes a semantics for deontic modals (exemplified by should). At the heart of the proposal is a notion of revision (similarity) that is argued to be analogous to that found in counterfactuals. Building on work by Kratzer and Veltman, it is claimed that there is a common core to the semantics of deontics and counterfactuals.