Propositional Logic

Propositional logic is a subset of the predicate logic.

! Syntax
! Semantics
! Models
! Inference Rules
! Complexity

Syntax of Propositional Logic

! symbols
! logical constants True, False
! propositional symbols P, Q, …
! logical connectives
! conjunction ∧, disjunction ∨,
! negation ¬,
! implication ⇒, equivalence ⇔
! parentheses (, )
! sentences
! constructed from simple sentences
! conjunction, disjunction, implication, equivalence, negation

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BNF Grammar Propositional Logic
Sentence → AtomicSentence | ComplexSentence
AtomicSentence → True | False | P | Q | R | ...
ComplexSentence → (Sentence )
| Sentence Connective Sentence
| ¬ Sentence
Connective → ∧|∨|⇒|⇔

ambiguities are resolved through precedence ¬∧ ∨ ⇒ ⇔

or parentheses
e.g. ¬ P ∨ Q ∧ R ⇒ S is equivalent to (¬ P) ∨ (Q ∧ R)) ⇒ S

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Semantics of Propositional Logic

! interpretation of the propositional symbols and
constants
! symbols can be any arbitrary fact
! sentences consisting of only a propositional symbols are
satisfiable, but not valid
! the constants True and False have a fixed
interpretation
! True indicates that the world is as stated
! False indicates that the world is not as stated
! specification of the logical connectives
! explicitly via truth tables

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• propositions can be interpreted as any facts you want
– e.g., P means "robins are birds", Q means "the Mike is dead",
etc.
• meaning of complex sentences is derived from the meaning
of its parts
– one method is to use a truth table
– all are easy except P => Q
• this says that if P is true, then I claim that Q is true; otherwise I make no
claim;
• P is true and Q is true, then P => Q is true
• P is true and Q is false, then P => Q is false
• P is false and Q is true, then P => Q is true
• P is false and Q is false, then P => Q is true

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Validity and Satisfiability in

Propositional Logic
• a sentence is valid or necessarily true if and only if it is
true under all possible interpretations in all possible worlds
– also called a tautology
– since computers reason mostly at the syntactic level, valid
sentences are very important
• a sentence is satisfiable iff there is some interpretation in
some world for which it is true
• a sentence that is not satisfiable is unsatisfiable
– also known as a contradiction

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 Truth Tables for Connectives in
Propositional Logic
P Q ¬P P∧Q P∨Q P⇒Q P⇔Q
False False True False False True True
False True True False True True False
True False False False True False False
True True False True True True True

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Propositional Calculus
• properly formed statements that are either True or False
• syntax
– logical constants, True and False
– proposition symbols such as P and Q
– logical connectives: and ^, or V, equivalence <=>, implies =>
and not ~
– parentheses to indicate complex sentences
• sentences in this language are created through application
of the following rules
– True and False are each (atomic) sentences
– Propositional symbols such as P or Q are each (atomic)
sentences
– Enclosing symbols and connective in parentheses yields
(complex) sentences, e.g., (P ^ Q) 16

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 Complex Sentences in Propositional Calculus
• Combining simpler sentences with logical connectives
yields complex sentences
– conjunction
• sentence whose main connective is and: P ^ (Q V R)
– disjunction
• sentence whose main connective is or: A V (P ^ Q)
– implication (conditional)
• sentence such as (P ^ Q) => R
• the left hand side is called the premise or antecedent
• the right hand side is called the conclusion or consequent
• implications are also known as rules or if-then statements
– equivalence (biconditional)
• (P ^ Q) <=> (Q ^ P)
– negation
• the only unary connective (operates only on one sentence)
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• e.g., ~P

Inference Rules
They are more efficient than truth tables.
• Modus ponens
• Modus tollens
• Syllogism
• Resolution
• And-elimination
• And-introduction
• Or-introduction
• Double-negation elimination
• Unit resolution
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 Modus ponens
• eliminates =>
(X => Y), X
______________
Y
– If it rains, then the streets will be wet.
– It is raining.
– Infer the conclusion: The streets will be wet.
(affirms the antecedent)
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Modus tollens
(X => Y), ¬Y
_______________
¬X
– If it rains, then the streets will be wet.
– The streets are not wet.
– Infer the conclusion: It is not raining.

• NOTE: Avoid the fallacy of affirming the consequent:

– If it rains, then the streets will be wet.
– The streets are wet.
– cannot conclude that it is raining.
• If Bacon wrote Hamlet, then Bacon was a great writer.
– Bacon was a great writer.
– cannot conclude that Bacon wrote Hamlet. 20

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 Syllogism
• chain implications to deduce a conclusion
(X => Y), (Y => Z)
_____________________
(X => Z)

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Resolution
(X v Y), (~Y v Z)
_________________
(X v Z)
• basis for the inference mechanism in the
Prolog language and some theorem provers

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 Complexity issues
• truth table enumerates 2n rows of the table for any proof
involving n symbol
– it is complete
– computation time is exponential in n
• checking a set of sentences for satisfiability is NP-complete
– but there are some circumstances where the proof only involves a
small subset of the KB, so can do some of the work in polynomial
time
– if a KB is monotonic (i.e., even if we add new sentences to a KB,
all the sentences entailed by the original KB are still entailed by
the new larger KB), then you can apply an inference rule locally
(i.e., don't have to go checking the entire KB)

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Inference Methods 1
• deduction sound
– conclusions must follow from their premises; prototype of logical
reasoning
• induction unsound
– inference from specific cases (examples) to the general
• abduction unsound
– reasoning from a true conclusion to premises that may have caused
the conclusion
• resolution sound
– find two clauses with complementary literals, and combine them
• generate and test unsound
– a tentative solution is generated and tested for validity
– often used for efficiency (trial and error) 24

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 Inference Methods 2
• default reasoning unsound
– general or common knowledge is assumed in the absence of
specific knowledge
• analogy unsound
– a conclusion is drawn based on similarities to another situation
• heuristics unsound
– rules of thumb based on experience
• intuition unsound
– typically human reasoning method (no proven theory)
• nonmonotonic reasoning unsound
– new evidence may invalidate previous knowledge
• autoepistemic unsound
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– reasoning about your own knowledge (self knowledge)

Predicate Logic
• Additional concepts (in addition to propositional
logic)
– complex objects
• terms
– relations
• predicates
• quantifiers
– syntax
– semantics
– inference rules
– usage
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 Objects in Predicate Logic
• distinguishable things in the real world
– people, cars, computers, programs, ...
• frequently includes concepts
– colors, stories, light, money, love, ...
• properties
– describe specific aspects of objects
• green, round, heavy, visible,
– can be used to distinguish between objects

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Relations in Predicate Logic

• establish connections between objects
• relations can be defined by the designer or
user
– neighbor, successor, next to, taller than,
younger than, …
• functions are special types of relations
– non-ambiguous: only one output for a given
input
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 Syntax of Predicate Logic
• also based on sentences, but more complex
– sentences can contain terms, which represent objects
• constant symbols: A, B, C, Square
– stand for unique objects (in a specific context)
• predicate symbols: Adjacent-to, Younger-than, ...
– describes relations between objects
• function symbols: SQRT, Cosine, …
– the given object is related to exactly one other object

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Semantics of Predicate Logic

• provided by interpretations for the basic constructs
– usually suggested by meaningful names
• constants
– the interpretation identifies the object in the real world
• predicate symbols
– the interpretation specifies the particular relation in a model
– may be explicitly defined through the set of tuples of objects that satisfy the
relation
• function symbols
– identifies the object referred to by a tuple of objects
– may be defined implicitly through other functions, or explicitly through tables

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 BNF Grammar Predicate Logic
Sentence → AtomicSentence
| Sentence Connective Sentence
| Quantifier Variable, ... Sentence
| ¬ Sentence | (Sentence)
AtomicSentence → Predicate(Term, …) | Term = Term
Term → Function(Term, …) | Constant | Variable
Connective → ∧|∨|⇒|⇔
Quantifier →∀|∃
Constant → A, B, C, X1 , X2, Jim, Jack
Variable → a, b, c, x1 , x2, counter, position
Predicate → Adjacent-To, Younger-Than,
Function → Sqrt, Cosine

Ambiguities are resolved through precedence or parentheses.

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Terms in Predicate Logic

• logical expressions that specify objects
• constants and variables are terms
• more complex terms are constructed from function
symbols and simpler terms, enclosed in
parentheses
– basically a complicated name of an object
• semantics is constructed from the basic
components, and the definition of the functions
involved
– either through explicit descriptions (e.g. table), or via
other functions

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 Unification in Predicate Logic
• The process of finding substitution for variables to
make arguments match is called unification.
– a substitution is the simultaneous replacement of
variable instances by terms, providing a “binding” for
the variable
– without unification, the matching between rules would
be restricted to constants
– ~F(y) V H(a,y), F(b) (b can be substitute for y)
– unification itself is a very powerful and possibly
complex operation
• in many practical implementations, restrictions are imposed

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Universal Quantification in Predicate Logic

• states that a predicate P is holds for all

objects x in the universe under discourse
∀x P(x)
• the sentence is true if and only if all the
individual sentences where the variable x
is replaced by the individual objects it can
stand for are true

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Existential Quantification in Predicate Logic

• states that a predicate P holds for some

objects in the universe
∃ x P(x)
• the sentence is true if and only if there is at
least one true individual sentence where the
variable x is replaced by the individual
objects it can stand for

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Horn clauses or sentences in

Predicate Logic
• class of sentences for which a polynomial-time
inference procedure exists
– P1 ∧ P2 ∧ ...∧ Pn => Q
where Pi and Q are non-negated atomic sentences
• not every knowledge base can be written as a
collection of Horn sentences
• Horn clauses are essentially rules of the form
– If P1 ∧ P2 ∧ ...∧ Pn then Q

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