Abstract
I argue that the medieval form of dialectical disputation known as obligationes can be viewed as a logical game of consistency maintenance. The game has two participants, Opponent and Respondent. Opponent puts forward a proposition P; Respondent must concede, deny or doubt, on the basis of inferential relations between P and previously accepted or denied propositions, or, in case there is none, on the basis of the common set of beliefs. Respondent loses the game if he concedes a contradictory set of propositions. Opponent loses the game if Respondent is able to maintain consistency during the stipulated period of time. The obligational rules are here formalised by means of familiar notational devices, and the application of some game-theoretical concepts, such as (winning) strategy, moves, motivation, allows for an analysis of some crucial properties of the game. In particular, the primacy of inferential (syntactic) relations over semantic aspects and the dynamic character of obligations are outlined.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
E.J. Ashworth (1981) ArticleTitle‘The Problems of Relevance and Order in Obligational Disputations: Some Late Fourteenth Century Views’ Medioevo 7 175–193
E.J. Ashworth (1984) ArticleTitle‘Inconsistency and Paradox in Medieval Disputations: A Development of Some Hints in Ockham’ Franciscan Studies 44 129–139
Walter Burley (1988) Obligations (selection) N. Kretzmann E. Stump (Eds) Logic and the Philosophy of Language, The Cambridge Translations of Medieval Philosophical Texts Cambridge University Cambridge 369–412
L.M. De Rijk (1974) ArticleTitle‘Some Thirteenth Century Tracts on the Game of Obligations I’ Vivarium 12 94–123
R. Green (1963) The logical Treatise ‘De Obligationibus’: An Introduction with Critical Texts of William of Sherwood (?) and Walter Burley Fransiscan Institute St. Bonaventure
C.L. Hamblin (1970) Fallacies Methuen London
J. Hintikka G. Sandu (1997) ‘Game-Theoretical Semantics’ J. Benthem Particlevan A. ter Meulen (Eds) Handbook of Logic and Language Elsevier/MIT Amsterdam/Cambridge, MA 361–410
H. Keffer (2001) De Obligationibus – Rekonstruktion einer spätmittelalterlichen Disputationstheorie Brill Leiden
Lagerlund H., Olsson E. (2001). ‘Disputation and Change of Belief – Burley’s Theory of obligationes as a Theory of Belief Revision’. in Yrjönsuuri (2001). pp. 35–62
P. Lorenzen (1961) ‘Ein dialogisches Konstruktivitätskriterium’. in Infinitistic Methods Pergamon Oxford 193–200
C.J. Martin (1992) ‘Obligations and Liars’ S. Read (Eds) Sophisms in Medieval Logic and Grammar. Kluwer Dordrecht 357–381
Martin C.J. (2001). ‘Obligations and Liars’. in Yrjönsuuri (2001). pp. 63–94. (Revised version of Martin 1992.) Pironet, F. 2001, ‘The Relations between Insolubles and Obligations in Medieval Disputations’. in Yrjönsuuri (2001). pp. 95–114
P.V. Spade (1982a) ‘Obligations: B. DevelopmentsintheFourteenthCentury’. N. Kretzmann A. Kenny J. Pinborg (Eds) The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy. Cambridge University Cambridge 335–4341
P.V. Spade (1982b) ArticleTitle‘Three Theories of Obligationes: Burley, Klivington and Swyneshed on Counterfactual Reasoning’ History and Philosophy of Logic 3 1–32
P.V. Spade (1992) ArticleTitle‘If Obligations were Counterfactuals’ Philosophical Topics 20 171–188
P.V. Spade E. Stump (1983) ArticleTitle‘Walter Burley and the obligationes Attributed to William of Sherwood’ History and Philosophy of Logic 4 9–26
M. Stokhof J. Groenendijk (1997) ‘Questions’ J. Benthem Particlevan A. ter Meulen (Eds) Handbook of Logic and Language. Elsevier/MIT Amsterdam/Cambridge, MA 1055–1124
E. Stump (1981) ArticleTitle‘Roger Swyneshed’s Theory of Obligations’ Medioevo 7 135–174
E. Stump (1982) ‘Obligations: A. From the Beginning to the Early Fourteenth Century’. N. Kretzmann A. Kenny J. Pinborg (Eds) The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy. Cambridge University Cambridge 315–334
E. Stump (1985) ArticleTitle‘The Logic of Disputation in Walter Burley’s Treatise on Obligations’ Synthese 63 355–374 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00485601
J. Van Benthem (2001) Logic in Games, Lecture Notes University of Amsterdam Amsterdam
J. Weisheipl (1956) Early Fourteenth-Century Physics and the Merton ‘School’ with Special Reference to Dumbleton and Heytesbury, PhD dissertation Oxford University Oxford
M. Yrjönsuuri (1996) ‘Obligations as Thought Experiments’ I. Angelelli M. Cerezo (Eds) Studies on the History of Logic. Walter de Gruyter Berlin 79–96
M. Yrjönsuuri (1998) ArticleTitle‘The Compossibility of Impossibilities and Ars Obligatoria’ History and Philosophy of Logic 19 235–248 Occurrence HandleMR1669726
M. Yrjönsuuri (Eds) (2001) Medieval Formal Logic Kluwer Dordrecht
Yrjönsuuri M. (2001a). ‘Duties, Rules and Interpretations in Obligational Disputations’. in Yrjönsuuri (2001). pp. 3–34
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Novaes, C.D. Medieval Obligationes as Logical Games of Consistency Maintenance. Synthese 145, 371–395 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-005-6197-y
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-005-6197-y