The Logic of Best Actions from a Deontic Perspective

Abstract

This chapter re-visits Johan van Benthem’s proposal to study the logic of “best actions” in games. After introducing the main ideas behind this proposal, this chapter makes three general arguments. First, we argue that the logic of best action has a natural deontic rider. Second, that this deontic perspective on the logic of best action opens the door to fruitful contributions from deontic logic to the normative foundation of solution concepts in game theory. Third, we argue that the deontic logic of solution concepts in games takes a specific form, which we call “obligation as weakest permission”. We present some salient features of that logic, and conclude with remarks about how to apply it to specific understandings of best actions in games.