Elementary Logic
8/29/2019
Proposition
- a statement that is either true or false
Leslie is a teacher.
Leslie is rich.
Leslie is a pop singer.
Compound proposition
- combination of simple proposition
Leslie is not a teacher.
Either Leslie is not a teacher or Leslie is not rich.
If Leslie is a pop singer, then Leslie is rich.
Inferences
Assumptions:
Leslie is a teacher.
Either Leslie is not a teacher or Leslie is not rich.
If Leslie is a pop singer, then Leslie is rich.
We wish to conclude the following:
Leslie is not a pop singer.
The above process is an example of inference.
Symbolic Propositions
• Propositions are represented by symbols, when only
their truth values are of concern.
P: Leslie is a teacher.
Q: Leslie is rich.
R: Leslie is a pop singer.
Compound propositions can then be more concisely
written.
not P: Leslie is not a teacher.
not P or not Q: Either Leslie is not a teacher or Leslie is
not rich.
R implies Q: If Leslie is a pop singer, then Leslie is rich.
Symbolic Inferences
Assumptions:
P (Leslie is a teacher.)
not P or not Q (Either Leslie is not a teacher or
Leslie is not rich.)
R implies Q (If Leslie is a pop singer, then Leslie is
rich.)
We wish to conclude the following:
not R (Leslie is not a pop singer.)
Propositional Logic
Atomic propositions
- a countable set P of proposition symbols
(variables): P,Q,R
Connectives (operators)
¬, ∧, ∨, →, ⇔
- connect the propositional variables
• How to read the logical connectives?
¬ (negation): not
∧ (conjunction): and
∨ (disjunction): or
→ (implication): implies (or if ..., then ...)
⇔ (equivalence): is equivalent to (or if and only
if)
OR (∨)
The “OR” operation of two propositions A and B
(written as A∨B) is true if at least any of the
propositional variable A or B is true.
The truth table is:
A B AvB
True True True
True False True
False True True
False False False
AND (∧)
The “AND” operation of two propositions A and
B (written as A ∧ B) is true if both the propositional
variable A and B is true.
The truth table is:
A B A∧B
True True True
True False False
False True False
False False False
Negation (¬)
The negation of a proposition A (written as ¬A) is
false when A is true and is true when A is false.
The truth table is:
A ¬A
True False
False True
Implication / if-then (→)
An implication A→B is the proposition “if A,
then B”. It is false if A is true and B is false. The
rest cases are true.
The truth table is:
A B A→B
True True True
True False False
False True True
False False True
If and only if (⇔)
A⇔B is bi-conditional logical connective which is
true when A and B are same, i.e. both are false or
both are true.
The truth table is:
A B A⇔B
True True True
True False False
False True False
False False True
8/29/2019
Classes of Compound Statements
1. Tautology
--- always true for every value of its
propositional variables
2. Contradiction
--- always false for every value of its
propositional variables
3. Contingency
--- has both some true and some false values
for every value of its propositional variables
Prove [(A→B)∧A]→B is a tautology.
The truth table is as follows:
As we can see every value
of [(A→B)∧A]→B is "True", it is a
tautology.
A B A→B (A → B) ∧ A [( A → B ) ∧ A]
→B
True True True True True
True False False False True
False True True False True
False False True False True
Prove (A∨B)∧[(¬A)∧(¬B)] is a
contradiction.
The truth table is as follows:
As we can see every value
of (A∨B)∧[(¬A)∧(¬B)]
(A∨B)∧[(¬A)∧(¬B)] is “False”, it is a
contradiction.
A B A∨B ¬A ¬B (¬ A) ∧ ( ¬ B) (A ∨ B) ∧ [( ¬ A)
∧ (¬ B)]
True True True False False False False
True False True False True False False
False True True True False False False
False False False True True True False
Prove (A∨B)∧(¬A) a contingency
The truth table is as follows:
As we can see every value of (A∨B)∧(¬A) has
both “True” and “False”, it is a contingency.
A B A∨B ¬A (A ∨ B) ∧ (¬ A)
True True True False False
True False True False False
False True True True True
False False False True False
Propositional Equivalences
- Two statements X and Y are logically equivalent if
any of the following two conditions hold:
– The truth tables of each statement have the same
truth values.
– The bi-conditional statement X⇔Y is a tautology.
Example:
Prove ¬(A∨B)and[(¬A)∧(¬B)] are equivalent
A B A∨B ¬ (A ∨ ¬A ¬B [(¬ A) ∧ (¬ B)]
B)
True True True False False False False
True False True False False True False
False True True False True False False
False False False True True True True
Here, we can see the truth values
of ¬(A∨B)and[(¬A)∧(¬B)] are same,
hence the statements are equivalent.
