Propositional Logic in KRR
Propositional Logic in KRR
Example:
a) It is Sunday.
b) The Sun rises from West (False proposition)
c) 3+3= 7(False proposition)
d) 5 is a prime number.
The syntax of propositional logic defines the allowable sentences for the knowledge representation. There are two
types of Propositions:
a) Atomic Propositions
b) Compound propositions
o Atomic Proposition: Atomic propositions are the simple propositions. It consists of a single proposition
symbol. These are the sentences which must be either true or false.
Example:
Example:
Logical Connectives:
Logical connectives are used to connect two simpler propositions or representing a sentence logically. We can create
compound propositions with the help of logical connectives. There are mainly five connectives, which are given as
follows:
1. Negation: A sentence such as ¬ P is called negation of P. A literal can be either Positive literal or negative
literal.
2. Conjunction: A sentence which has ∧ connective such as, P ∧ Q is called a conjunction.
Example: Rohan is intelligent and hardworking. It can be written as,
P= Rohan is intelligent,
Q= Rohan is hardworking. → P∧ Q.
3. Disjunction: A sentence which has ∨ connective, such as P ∨ Q. is called disjunction, where P and Q are the
propositions.
Example: "Ritika is a doctor or Engineer",
Here P= Ritika is Doctor. Q= Ritika is Doctor, so we can write it as P ∨ Q.
4. Implication: A sentence such as P → Q, is called an implication. Implications are also known as if-then rules.
It can be represented as
If it is raining, then the street is wet.
Let P= It is raining, and Q= Street is wet, so it is represented as P → Q
5. Biconditional: A sentence such as P⇔ Q is a Biconditional sentence, example If I am breathing, then I
am alive
P= I am breathing, Q= I am alive, it can be represented as P ⇔ Q.
Following is the summarized table for Propositional Logic Connectives:
Truth Table:
In propositional logic, we need to know the truth values of propositions in all possible scenarios. We can combine all
the possible combination with logical connectives, and the representation of these combinations in a tabular format is
called Truth table. Following are the truth table for all logical connectives:
Truth table with three propositions:
We can build a proposition composing three propositions P, Q, and R. This truth table is made-up of 8n Tuples as we
have taken three proposition symbols.
Precedence of connectives:
Just like arithmetic operators, there is a precedence order for propositional connectors or logical operators. This order
should be followed while evaluating a propositional problem. Following is the list of the precedence order for
operators:
Precedence Operators
Logical equivalence:
Logical equivalence is one of the features of propositional logic. Two propositions are said to be logically equivalent if
and only if the columns in the truth table are identical to each other.
Let's take two propositions A and B, so for logical equivalence, we can write it as A⇔B. In below truth table we can
see that column for ¬A∨ B and A→B, are identical hence A is Equivalent to B
Properties of Operators:
o Commutativity:
o P∧ Q= Q ∧ P, or
o P ∨ Q = Q ∨ P.
o Associativity:
o (P ∧ Q) ∧ R= P ∧ (Q ∧ R),
o (P ∨ Q) ∨ R= P ∨ (Q ∨ R)
o Identity element:
o P ∧ True = P,
o P ∨ True= True.
o Distributive:
o P∧ (Q ∨ R) = (P ∧ Q) ∨ (P ∧ R).
o P ∨ (Q ∧ R) = (P ∨ Q) ∧ (P ∨ R).
o DE Morgan's Law:
o ¬ (P ∧ Q) = (¬P) ∨ (¬Q)
o ¬ (P ∨ Q) = (¬ P) ∧ (¬Q).
o Double-negation elimination:
o ¬ (¬P) = P.
o We cannot represent relations like ALL, some, or none with propositional logic. Example:
a. All the girls are intelligent.
b. Some apples are sweet.
o Propositional logic has limited expressive power.
o In propositional logic, we cannot describe statements in terms of their properties or logical relationships.