University of Bristol

ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT FOR STUDY ABROAD STUDENT

School of Arts
Department of Philosophy

PHIL10032

Logic and Critical Thinking

SOLUTIONS AND MARKING GUIDE

Attempt all parts of all 13 questions.

Questions are worth 120 marks in total.

PLEASE WRITE YOUR 7 DIGIT STUDENT NUMBER (NOT CANDIDATE

NUMBER) ON THE ANSWER BOOKLET. YOUR STUDENT NUMBER CAN BE
FOUND ON YOUR UCARD.
Basic Concepts, Validity and Formalisation
1. (3 marks) Write down the conclusion of each of these arguments: (1 mark each)
(a) I’ll never become a professional musician. I hate practising scales, but that’s essen-
tial if you want to become good enough to play professionally.
I’ll never become a professional musician.
(b) A vegetarian diet is healthier. It is also unethical to kill animals for food when veg-
etarian alternatives are available. And there are many widely available vegetarian
alternatives. So you should become vegetarian.
You should become vegetarian.
(c) Billy will invite me for dinner tomorrow. So I don’t need to go to the shops today.
I don’t need to go to the shops today.

2. (2 marks) The following argument omits an important premise. Write a reasonable

premise that makes the argument valid.
“The crime rate is too high, so we should make prison sentences longer.”
“Longer prison sentences will reduce the crime rate.”

3. (5 marks) Is each of the following possible? If so, give an example (described in words,
not symbols). If not, explain why.

(i) An invalid argument with a valid form?

No, if the form of an argument is a valid argument form then the argument is valid.

(ii) A valid argument that can be made invalid by the addition of a new premise?
Not possible (1 mark).
+2 marks for explanation

4. (2 marks) Suppose your friend refuses to accept the conclusion of a valid argument. Are
they wrong to do so?
No (1 mark)
+1 mark for an explanation. For example: “An argument being valid doesn’t tell us that
the conclusion is true, only that if the premises were true then the conclusion would be
true. The argument could be valid but the premises false, in which case the conclusion
might be false as well.”

Page 2
5. (6 marks) Are the following arguments valid or invalid? If an argument is invalid, de-
scribe in words a situation that would be a counterexample.

(1) P1 All pigs can fly.

P2 Anything that can fly can swim.
Conc : All pigs can swim.
Valid
(2) P1 There are fewer than two but more than five people in the room.
Conc : The moon is made of cheese.
There cannot be a counterexample because the premise is impossible, so the argu-
ment is valid. (2 marks)
(3) P1 Napoleon was either from France or from Germany.
P2 Napoleon was not from Luxemborg.
Conc : Napoleon was from France.
Invalid (1 mark)
+2 marks for an explanation: “If Napoleon was from Germany then both of the
premises would be true but the conclusion would be false.”

Page 3
 Truth Functional Logic
6. (8 marks) Symbolise the following sentences in TFL. In each case, explain the meaning
of the letters you use. Highlight any ambiguities or difficulties of interpretation.
Of course, it doesn’t matter if you use different letters from the ones I’ve suggested.

NOTE: As I said in lectures, in this year’s course (2022–23) there won’t be questions
asking you to identify the ‘right’ way to interpret an ambiguity in a sentence.

(i) Jenny or Bob helped Alfred.

J ∨B
J = “Jenny helped Alfred.”
B = “Bob helped Alfred.”
(ii) Bob doesn’t come to work if he or his daughter are sick.
(B ∨ D) → ¬W
where
B = Bob is sick
D = Bob’s daughter is sick
W = Bob comes to work
(iii) Joe and Alice did their homework together.
J &A
where J = Joe did homework, A = Alice did homework
Extra mark for noting that the formalisation doesn’t capture the fact that they did
their homework together.
(iv) Jenny will come to the party if Harry goes or Billy doesn’t and Alan does.
(H ∨ (¬B & A)) → J
or
((H ∨ ¬B) & A) → J
H = Harry comes to the party
B = Billy comes to the party
A = Alan comes to the party
J = Jenny comes to the party
Extra marks for noting that the English sentence is ambiguous and can be inter-
preted in these two ways.

Page 4
7. (8 marks) Symbolise the following sentences in Truth Functional Logic using the follow-
ing symbolisation key:

T The train was late

C Fred’s car broke down
L Fred was late for the meeting
A Fred was annoyed
(a) Fred’s car broke down and the train was late.
C &T
(b) If Fred was late for the meeting then his car broke down or the train was late.
L → (C ∨ T )
(c) If Fred wasn’t late for the meeting then his car didn’t break down, or else the train
wasn’t late.
¬L → (¬C ∨ ¬T )
(d) Fred was annoyed but not late for the meeting.
A & ¬L
NOTE: In the 2022–23 course we didn’t discuss how to formalise words like “but”,
so you’re not expected to know this.

8. (10 marks) Give truth tables for each of the following: (2 marks each)
(a) ¬(A & B)
A B A&B ¬(A & B)
T T T F
T F F T
F T F T
F F F T

(b) ¬A → (A ∨ A)
A ¬A A ∨ A ¬A → (A ∨ A)
T F T T
F T F F

(c) A → (A → B)
A B A→B A → (A → B)
T T T T
T F F F
F T T T
F F T T

Page 5
 (d) A ∨ (B & (B ∨ A))
A B B∨A B & (B ∨ A) A ∨ (B & (B ∨ A))
T T T T T
T F T F T
F T T T T
F F F F F

(e) A ∨ (B ∨ C)
A B C B∨C A ∨ (B ∨ C)
T T T T T
T T F T T
T F T T T
T F F F T
F T T T T
F T F T T
F F T T T
F F F F F

9. (18 marks) Give a proof of each of the following arguments, using only the Basic Rules
as presented in the lectures.
(a) A → (B & C) ∴ A → B

1 A → (B & C)
2 A
3 B&C →E 1, 2
4 B &E 3
5 A→B →I 2–4

Page 6
(b) D → F, A → (¬F & D), A ∴ B

1 D→F
2 A → (¬F & D)
3 A
4 ¬F & D →E 3, 2
5 D &E 4
6 ¬F &E 4
7 F →E 1, 5
8 ⊥ ⊥I 6, 7
9 B ⊥E 8

(c) A ∨ B, ¬B ∴ A

1 A∨B
2 ¬B
3 A
4 A&A &I 3, 3
5 A &E 4
6 A→A →I 3–5
7 B
8 ⊥ ⊥I 2, 7
9 A ⊥E 8
10 B→A →I 7–9
11 A ∨E 1, 6, 10

Page 7
10. (16 marks) Show the following arguments are valid by (a) symbolising them in Truth
Functional Logic, and then (b) giving a proof. You may use the Basic Rules and the
Derived Rules. Explain the meaning of the letters you use to symbolise the sentences.
(a) If it is Tuesday, I have a logic lecture. If I have a logic lecture then I have to get
out of bed. It is not Tuesday, and I don’t have to get out of bed, so I do not have
a logic lecture.

P1 T → L
P2 L → B
P3 ¬T & ¬B
Conc : ¬L
where
T = “It is Tuesday”
L = “I have a logic lecture”
B = “I have to get out of bed”

1 T →L
2 L→B
3 ¬T & ¬B
4 ¬B &E 3
5 ¬L MT 2, 4

Page 8
(b) If Joe watched TV in bed, then he didn’t sleep. If he didn’t sleep, then he is grumpy.
So if he is happy then he didn’t watch TV in bed.
NOTE: A problem with this question is that it requires that you figure out that
‘grumpy’ is meant to be interpreted as ‘not happy’. I’ve tried to be careful to avoid
this kind of issue in this year’s exam.

P1 B → ¬S
P2 ¬S → G
Conc : ¬G → ¬B
where
B = Joe watched TV in bed
S = Joe slept
G = Joe is grumpy

1 B → ¬S
2 ¬S → G
3 ¬G
4 B
5 ¬S →E 4, 1
6 G →E 5, 2
7 ⊥ ⊥I 3, 6
8 B→⊥ →I 4–7
9 ¬B ¬I 8
10 ¬G → ¬B →I 3–9

Page 9
 First Order Logic
11. (15 marks) For each section write a symbolisation key giving appropriate letters for all
the names, predicates, and relations, then use this key to formalise all the sentences in
that section.
(a)
domain: animals
d: Daisy
Cx: x is a cow.
Gx: x is grey.
Hx: x is happy.
1. Daisy is a cow.
Cd
2. Daisy is a grey cow.
Cd & Gd
3. Every cow is happy.
∀x (Cx → Hx)
4. There is a grey cow that is happy.
∃x ((Cx & Gx) & Hx)
(b)

Note: be careful to use different letters for ‘author’ and ‘admires’

domain: people
c: Christie
k: King
W x: x is an author.
Ex: x is English.
Axy: x admires y.
F xy: x writes faster than y.
1. Christie is an English author.
Ec & W c
2. King is an author and is not English.
W k & ¬Ek
3. King admires Christie.
Akc
4. No-one writes faster than King.
¬∃x (F xk)

Page 10
 (c)
domain: people
a: Arthur
c: Cecil
e: Evelyn
T xy: x trusts y.
1. Arthur trusts both Cecil and Evelyn.
T ac & T ae
2. Arthur trusts Cecil; Evelyn doesn’t.
T ac & ¬T ec
3. Evelyn trusts someone if Cecil trusts them.
∀x (T cx → T ex)
4. There is someone that no-one trusts.
∃x (¬∃y T yx)

12. (12 marks) Using the provided key, write the following sentences in FOL:

domain: people
Sx: x studies for the exam
P x: x passes the exam
Kxy: x knows y

1. Everyone studies for the exam. (2 marks)

∀x Sx
2. Everyone who studies for the exam passes it. (3 marks)
∀x (Sx → P x)
3. Everyone knows someone. (3 marks)
∀x ∃y (Kxy)
4. Everyone knows someone who passes the exam without studying for it. (4 marks)
∀x ∃y ((Kxy & P y) & ¬Sy)

Page 11
13. (15 marks) Consider the following interpretation

domain: Numbers 1, 2 and 3.

1 o 2
o: The number 1

Sx: There is a square around x.

3
Axy: There is an arrow from x to y.

Are each of the following sentences true or false in that interpretation?

1. So (1 mark)
False: there is no square around 1 in the diagram.
2. ∀xAxx (2 marks)
True: every number in the diagram has an arrow to itself
3. ∃xAox (3 marks)
True: there is an arrow from 1 to 1
4. ∃x∀yAxy (4 marks)
False: no number has an arrow from it to every number
5. ∃x∀y(Sy → Axy) (5 marks)
True: 2 has an arrow from it to every number that has a square around it

Page 12