People always get upset when I propose mathematical formalization of law and using e.g. metamath verifier as a judge.
At least the metamath verifiers will not bend over backwards and come up with absurd inconsistent counterarguments.
It's the most humiliating thing for citizens when the legal cadre of a nation pretends in the national journal that everybody falls for its lies... openly mocking the concept of truth itself with absurdism.
Legal systems typically use non-monotonic logic. Most formal logic systems, particularly in mathematical fields, use monotonic logic. Monotonic logic isn't well suited for the law or most other areas of human activity.
If you want an entire legal system formally defined in logic, you're going to have to do a ton of novel work in expanding the understanding of and application of non-monotonic logic because there isn't much scholarship compared to monotonic logic systems.
That said, France is one of the only countries that has tried anything like this. Their tax system is required to be defined and expressed algorithmically, and they even built a programming language and compiler tool chain to do this. I think it uses monotonic logic, though, and I don't think anybody has seriously suggested the French tax code is something to be copied, neither as a tax code nor an approach to legal codification more generally.
> Their tax system is required to be defined and expressed algorithmically, and they even built a programming language and compiler tool chain to do this.
That's a very interesting fact. Especially in the context of the recent news of the 50 billion euros deficit <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/24/france-budget-debt-deficit-government.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/24/france-budget-debt-deficit-g...
If their taxes are defined mathematically I would not expect constant mishaps with the budget.
DoctorOetker · · focus · HN ↗
At least the metamath verifiers will not bend over backwards and come up with absurd inconsistent counterarguments.
It's the most humiliating thing for citizens when the legal cadre of a nation pretends in the national journal that everybody falls for its lies... openly mocking the concept of truth itself with absurdism.
wahern · · focus · HN ↗
If you want an entire legal system formally defined in logic, you're going to have to do a ton of novel work in expanding the understanding of and application of non-monotonic logic because there isn't much scholarship compared to monotonic logic systems.
That said, France is one of the only countries that has tried anything like this. Their tax system is required to be defined and expressed algorithmically, and they even built a programming language and compiler tool chain to do this. I think it uses monotonic logic, though, and I don't think anybody has seriously suggested the French tax code is something to be copied, neither as a tax code nor an approach to legal codification more generally.
betaby · · focus · HN ↗
That's a very interesting fact. Especially in the context of the recent news of the 50 billion euros deficit <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/24/france-budget-debt-deficit-government.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/24/france-budget-debt-deficit-g...
If their taxes are defined mathematically I would not expect constant mishaps with the budget.
thyrsus · · focus · HN ↗