Chapter 1

Propositional Logic

1.1 Propositions

Definition 1
A proposition is a declarative sentence that is either true or false, but not both. If a
proposition is true, then its truth value is “true” and is denoted by T or 1; otherwise, its
truth value is false and is denoted by F or 0.

Example 1. Determine whether each of the following statements is a proposition or not a propo-
sition. If the given is a proposition, give its truth value (if possible).

1. Jose Rizal is our National Hero.

2. Welcome to the Philippines!

3. Find x such that x is a multiple of your age.

4. Who is the first president of the republic?

5. Douglas MacArthur arrived in the Philippines in 1521.

6. Our president is either pretty or handsome.

7. 1 is a prime number.
√
8. 2 is an irrational number.

9. This statement is false.

10. There is life in planet Pluto.

1
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Given a proposition, its truth table shows all its possible truth values.

p p q p q r
1 1 1 1 1 1
0 1 0 1 1 0
0 1 1 0 1
0 0 1 0 0
0 1 1
0 1 0
0 0 1
0 0 0

Remark: In general, truth table involving n distinct propositions has 2n rows.

Definition 2
Let p be a proposition. The negation of p, denoted by ¬p, is the statement “It is not the
case that p.” The proposition ¬p is read “not p.” The truth table for ¬p is

p ¬p
1 0
0 1

Example 2. State the negation of the following propositions.

1. r : Everyone in Visayas speak Cebuano.

x−1
2. p : The function f (x) = is a polynomial function.
x+1

3. q : 3 is a composite number.

√
4. s : 2 is an irrational number.
1.2. COMPOUND PROPOSITIONS 3

1.2 Compound Propositions

A simple proposition is a proposition that cannot be deduced to simpler propositions. A com-
pound proposition is a proposition formed by two or more simple propositions.

Definition 3
Let p and q be propositions. The conjunction of p and q, denoted by p ∧ q, is the
proposition “p and q”. The conjunction p ∧ q is true when both p and q are true, and is false
otherwise. The propositions p and q are called conjuncts. The truth table of p ∧ q is

p q p∧q
1 1 1
1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 0

Example 3. Let p and q be propositions such that

p : Fairies eat chocolates.
q : π is rational.
Express the following in sentence form.

1. p ∧ q :

2. p ∧ (¬q) :

3. (¬p) ∧ q :

4. (¬p) ∧ (¬q) :

5. ¬(p ∧ q) : ¬(p ∧ q) :
4 CHAPTER 1. PROPOSITIONAL LOGIC

Definition 4
Let p and q be propositions. The disjunction of p and q, denoted by p∨q, is the proposition
“p or q”. The disjunction p ∨ q is false when both p and q are false, and is true otherwise.
The propositions p and q are called disjuncts. The truth table of p ∨ q is

p q p∨q
1 1 1
1 0 1
0 1 1
0 0 0

Example 4. Let p and q be propositions such that

p : Fairies eat chocolates.
q : π is rational.
Express the following in sentence form.

1. p ∨ q :

2. p ∨ (¬q) :

3. (¬p) ∨ q :

4. (¬p) ∨ (¬q) :

5. ¬(p ∨ q) :

Definition 5
Let p and q be propositions. The exclusive or of p and q, denoted by “p Y q” or “p ⊕ q”, is
the proposition that is true when exactly one of p and q is true, and is false otherwise. The
truth table of p Y q is

p q pYq
1 1 0
1 0 1
0 1 1
0 0 0
1.2. COMPOUND PROPOSITIONS 5

Example 5.

1. A person is either male or female. (A person is male or a person is female.)

2. An integer is either odd or even.

3. A positive integer greater than 1 is either prime or composite.

Definition 6
Let p and q be propositions. The conditional statement p → q is the proposition “If p,
then q.” or “p implies q”. The conditional statement p → q is false when p is true and q is
false, and true otherwise. In the conditional statement p → q, p is called the hypothesis
(or antecedent or premise) and q is called the conclusion (or consequence). The truth table
of p → q is

p q p→q
1 1 1
1 0 0
0 1 1
0 0 1

Other ways to express this conditional statement p → q:

1. if p, q 7. q when p

2. p only if q
8. q is necessary for p
3. p is sufficient for q
9. a necessary condition for p is q
4. a sufficient condition for q is p
10. q follows from p
5. q if p

6. q whenever p 11. q unless ¬p

Example 6. Let p and q be propositions such that

p : Victor is sleeping.
q : 2 + 5 = 8.
Express the following in sentence form.

1. p → q :

2. q → p :

3. ¬p → ¬q :
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4. ¬q → ¬p :

5. ¬(p → q) :

Remark: If p → q, then

1. q → p is called the converse of p → q.

2. ¬p → ¬q is called the inverse of p → q.

3. ¬q → ¬p is called the contrapositive of p → q.

Definition 7
Let p and q be propositions. The biconditional statement p ↔ q is the proposition “p if
and only if q” (or simply “p iff q”). The biconditional statement p ↔ q is true when p and q
have the same truth values, and is false otherwise. Biconditional statements are also called
bi-implications. The truth table of p ↔ q is

p q p↔q
1 1 1
1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 1

Other ways to express this biconditional statement p → q:

1. “p is necessary and sufficient for q”

2. “if p then q, and conversely”

Example 7. Let p and q be propositions such that

p : Victor is sleeping.
q : 2 + 5 = 8.
Express the following in sentence form.

1. p ↔ q :

2. ¬p ↔ q :

3. ¬q ↔ ¬p :
1.2. COMPOUND PROPOSITIONS 7

Example 8. Consider the following propositions:

p : 2 is an even prime.
q : Every rabbit that lay eggs studies at PUP.
r : Today is Sunday.
s : The moon is made of cheese.
Express the following in symbols and determine its truth value (True or False).

1. Either every rabbit that lay eggs studies at PUP or today is Sunday.

2. The moon is made of cheese and 2 is an even prime.

3. If 2 is an even prime, then the moon is made of cheese.

4. Today is Sunday if and only if the moon is made of cheese.

5. Neither today is Sunday nor the moon is made of cheese.

6. If 2 is an even prime, then either today is Sunday or the moon is made of cheese.

7. Every rabbit that lay eggs studies at PUP if and only if either the moon is made of cheese
or 2 is an even prime.

8. If 2 is not an even prime, then every rabbit that lay eggs studies at PUP implies that today
is Sunday.

9. The moon is made of cheese whenever either 2 is an even prime or today is Sunday.

10. Every rabbit that lay eggs studies at PUP is necessary for 2 is an even prime.
8 CHAPTER 1. PROPOSITIONAL LOGIC

1.3 Propositional Equivalences

Definition 8
A compound proposition that is always true, no matter what the truth values of the propo-
sitional variables that occur in it, is called a tautology. A compound proposition that is
always false is called a contradiction. A compound proposition that is neither a tautology
nor a contradiction is called a contingency.

Remark: A biconditional proposition which is a tautology is called an equivalence.

Example 9. Show that the following are equivalence.

1. De Morgan’s Law:

(a) ¬(p ∧ q) ↔ ¬p ∨ ¬q
(b) ¬(p ∨ q) ↔ ¬p ∧ ¬q

2. ¬(p → q) ↔ (p ∧ ¬q)

Example 10. Using truth tables, determine if the following compound propositions is a tautology,
contingency, or contradiction.

1. x : [(p ∨ q) ∧ (¬p ∨ r)] → (q ∨ r)

2. y : [(p → r) ∧ (q → r)] ↔ [(p ∨ q) ∧ ¬r]

3. z : [(p → q) → r] ↔ [p → (q → r)]

1.4 Arguments

Definition 9
An argument is a compound proposition of the form (p1 ∧ p2 ∧ p3 ∧ . . . ∧ pn ) → q. The
propositions p1 , p2 , . . . , pn are the premises of the argument, and q is the conclusion.
Arguments can also be written in column or standard form:
p1
p2
..
.
pn

∴ q
1.4. ARGUMENTS 9

Definition 10
An argument is valid if all its premises are true implies that the conclusion is true. Other-
wise, we say that the argument is invalid or a fallacy.

A symbolic argument consists of a set of premises and a conclusion. It is called symbolic

argument because we generally write it in symbolic form to determine its validity.

Procedure to determine whether a symbolic argument is valid or invalid

1. Determine the simple propositions of the given argument.

2. Write the argument in symbolic form.

3. Write the conditional statement of the form:

(p1 ∧ p2 ∧ . . . ∧ pn ) → q

4. Construct a truth table for the statement in Step 3.

5. If the truth table results in a tautology, then the argument is valid. Otherwise, we conclude
that the argument is invalid.

Example 11. Determine whether the following argument is valid or invalid.

1. If Antonio and Berto are friends, then they are Facebook friends.
They are not friends.
∴ They are not Facebook friends.

2. If my laptop battery is dead, then I use my home computer.

If I use my home computer, then my kids will play outside.
∴ If my laptop battery is dead, then my kids will play outside.

3. If Donna has a pet, then Donna owns a snail.

Donna owns a snail or Donna drives a truck.
Donna drives a truck or Donna has a pet.
∴ Donna has a pet.

Syllogistic arguments, also known as syllogism, are arguments that use the quantifiers all are,
some are, none are, and some are not.

Words or phrases used Method of determining validity

Symbolic arguments and, or, not, if-then, if and only if Truth tables
Syllogistic arguments all are, some are, none are, some are not Euler diagrams
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Euler Diagrams

Procedure to determine whether a syllogistic argument is valid or invalid

Draw the Euler diagram so that the conclusion does not necessarily follow from the premises.

1. If that can be done, then the conclusion does not necessarily follow from the premises and
the argument is invalid.

2. If we cannot show that the argument is invalid, only then do we accept the argument as
valid.

Example 12.

1. All ballerinas are athletic. 4. All squares are rhombi.

John Cena is athletic. All rhombi are parallelograms.
∴ John Cena is a ballerina All parallelograms are quadrilaterals.
∴ All squares are quadrilaterals.
2. No parrots eat chicken.
Luffy does not eat chicken.
∴ Luffy is a parrot.
5. All country singers play the guitar.
3. No cowboys drink lemonade. All country singers play the drums.
All debutantes drink lemonade. Some people who play the guitar are rock singers.
∴ No cowboys are debutantes. ∴ Some country singers are rock singers.