This paper offers a critical analysis of the logical structure of principles proposed by Robert Alexy and, in particular, of their structure as optimisation commands. Its first part dwells on the question whether the optimisation element in the logical structure should be understood as part of modalisation, as part of the consequent, or as an independent element. In the second part, the author analyses possible forms of inter-definability of deontic operators. Finally, some questions are raised on the conditional structure proposed (...) by Alexy for principles. (shrink)