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Handling irresolvable conflicts in the Semantic Web: an RDF-based conflict-tolerant version of the Deontic Traditional Scheme

Livio Robaldo Orcid Logo, Gianluca Pozzato Orcid Logo

Journal of Logic and Computation

Swansea University Author: Livio Robaldo Orcid Logo

DOI (Published version): 10.1093/logcom/exaf054

Abstract

This paper introduces a computational ontology for deontic reasoning, fully implemented in RDF* and SPARQL*, designed to support reasoning in the presence of irresolvable conflicts. These are situations in which two or more norms prescribe incompatible obligations, prohibitions, or permissions, with...

Full description

Published in: Journal of Logic and Computation
Published: OUP
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70457
Abstract: This paper introduces a computational ontology for deontic reasoning, fully implemented in RDF* and SPARQL*, designed to support reasoning in the presence of irresolvable conflicts. These are situations in which two or more norms prescribe incompatible obligations, prohibitions, or permissions, without any clear priority among them. Existing approaches in formal deontic logic are typically limited tothe propositional level, focused primarily on obligation as the central modality, and are rarely implemented in a way that is compatible with Semantic Web standards. The framework presented here addresses these limitations by providing a first-order, RDF-based formalization of all standard deontic modalities: obligations, permissions, optionality, and their negations. It supports the explicit representation and reasoning about violations and conflicts, while also accounting for contextual constraints. The ontology integrates contributions from three research areas that have so far largely developed in isolation: RDF-based LegalTech solutions, reificationbased models of Natural Language Semantics, and conflict-tolerant approaches in formal deontic logic. By incorporating contradictions and conflicts into the object language, the ontology supports advanced reasoning tasks within a framework that adheres to W3C standards. This makes it suitable for integration into industrialLegalTech applications where normative reasoning is required
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Funders: Alan Turing Institute

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