In this course we give an in-depth treatment of 5 selected problems from our ESSLLI 2010 foundational course on deontic logic and normative reasoning in computer science. Motivations for the timeliness of a course on deontic logic and normative reasoning are the following. (1) Computer systems become ever more sophisticated, distributed and autonomous. As a consequence, there is a growing interest in describing and controlling these systems on the more general level of their rules and modes of interaction. To achieve this, we need a shift from programming languages and logical languages describing individual agent behaviour to languages aimed at controlling the interactions within groups of agents. That is, we need languages for *norms*. (2) Recently, the important role of normative reasoning is recognized within the community working on ‘social software’, but a clear understanding of the work on norms and deontic logic that is done over the last 60 years is lacking in this area. Finally, (3) in the years to come, the Handbook of Deontic Logic will appear. Its aims are to point to the deontic logic challenges of the future, to present the promising approaches so far, and to give an historical overview. Our course has the same objectives.
Deontic logicians often hear that people do not know or understand what deontic logic is about, and, more in particular, what problems they study. In reaction to that, the course will be problem driven. That is, we present, discuss and ask the audience to think about 5 of the most challenging and important problems of deontic logic and normative reasoning in computer science.
