Introduction

This book presents the fundamentals of a logical theory of commands. In large measure it is devoted to a task preliminary to any adequate articulation of such a theory — the clarification of the basic constituent ideas required for a viable analysis of the complex concept of a command. The book deals only with commands (construing this term broadly to include orders, directives, injunctions, instructions, and prohibitions or ‘negative’ commands). Quite apart from whatever intrinsic interest a logical theory of commands may possess, it seems worthwhile from two external perspectives. Firstly, it cannot but help to shed the light of contrast upon the logical theory of purely assertoric statements. Secondly, the inquiry will possess an instrumental value for ethics, where the notion of commanding cannot but play a role. The logical theory of commands is widely regarded as a very new and ‘non-classical’ branch of logic.