ABSTRACT
A command whose execution precondition involves a ‘but only’ rider (explicitly or by appropriate reconstrual) will be said to contain a proviso. As regards the validity of command inferences whose premisses involve provisos, one takes the cue from the purely assertoric case. The provisos are simply superimposed on an otherwise valid inference by making the conclusion subject to all the provisos of all of the (essential) premisses. A command inference whose premisses involve provisos is valid if the corresponding proviso denuded command inference is valid, and the conclusion command is made subject to all the provisos of the (essential) premisses. A proviso-qualified command can always be weakened and a command proviso can always be strengthened, other things being equal. In line with the principles, the theory of inference of commands with provisos can be accommodated within the framework of an adequate conception of inference for straightforward, proviso-less commands.
