Obligationwhat

Obligationwhat is a hypothetical term used in philosophy and linguistics to denote the content of an obligation—the specific action or outcome that an agent is required to perform or refrain from. The term is not widely standardized and appears primarily in thought experiments and discussions about deontic logic, semantics, and ethical language. It is intended as a neutral placeholder for the “what” that is obligated.

In analyses of deontic modality, obligationwhat helps separate the content of obligation from its normative force (obligation versus permission) and from the identity of the obligated agent or the time frame. By focusing on the item that constitutes the obligation, scholars can explore how the wording of a statement affects interpretation and how different formulations might change perceived duties.

An example sentence is “You must pay the rent by Friday.” Here the obligationwhat is the action “pay the rent by Friday.” The content can be conditional or disjunctive, such as “If you are traveling, you must arrange for the payment to be sent by Friday,” which shows how the obligationcontent can vary with context and conditions.

Reception has been cautious: some scholars view obligationwhat as a useful heuristic for clarifying debates about what obligations really require, while others argue that the standard deontic framework already handles these issues without introducing new labels. Related topics include deontic logic, normative ethics, and the distinction between obligation and permission.