In this paper we are interested in developing goal-based normative agent architectures. We ask ourselves the question what a normative goal is. To answer this question we introduce a qualitative normative decision theory based on belief (B) and obligation (O) rules. We show that every agent which makes optimal decisions – which we call a BO rational agent – acts as if it is maximizing its achie...

is paper investigates how inquiry into normative language can improve substantive normative theorizing. First I examine twodimensions alongwhich normative language differs: “strength” and “subjectivity.” Next I show how greater sensitivity to these features of the meaning and use of normative language can illuminate debates about three issues in ethics: the coherence of moral dilemmas, the pos...

The impact of science on ethics forms since long the subject of intense debate. Although there is a growing consensus that science can describe morality and explain its evolutionary origins, there is less consensus about the ability of science to provide input to the normative domain of ethics. Whereas defenders of a scientific normative ethics appeal to naturalism, its critics either see the n...

The topic of this essay is the metaethics of practical reasons, with special focus on a view I call " constructivism ". Because this term is rather promiscuous , it seems best for me to characterize the view I'm talking about right off the bat. As I understand it, constructivism is characterized by three central tenets. The first of which runs as follows: Truth-Apt: normative judgments are trut...

This study examined the contribution of general normative beliefs about aggression and specific normative beliefs about retaliatory aggression in predicting physical, verbal, and indirect aggressive behaviors. Two hundred and forty-nine Grade 4 and Grade 5 boys completed the Normative Beliefs about Aggression Scale (NOBAGS) and provided self-reports on the frequency of their physical, verbal, a...

The general equilibrium analysis of perfectly competitive markets plays a central role in most attempts by positive economics to describe what happens in a market economy. It is usually admitted that there may be barriers to competition, that markets may be incomplete, and information may be lacking. Nevertheless, as a theoretical ideal which may approximate reality, general equilibrium analysi...