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LogicTermsandConcepts

Logic Termsan dCo n cep t s

Mapofthebasicconceptsoflogic
atomicsentence
bearer
bind
boundvariable
closedsentence
compact
compactness
theorem
complete
completeness
theorem
conjunction
consistent
denotation
designation
disjunction
domain

dot
elementarystatement
existentialquantification
existentialquantifier
firstorderlogic
formula
freevariable
function
Gdel'sfirstincompleteness
theorem
Gdel'sfirstinconsistency
theorem
identity
iff
implication
inconsistent
interpretation

TableofContents
invalid
language
logicalequivalence
logicalsymbol
materialbiconditional
materialconditional
materialimplication
metalogical
metavariable
model
name
negation
nonlogicalsymbol
opensentence
paradoxesofclassical
logic

parenthesization
predicate
propositionalvariable
quantification
quantifier
reference
satisfiable
schema
secondorderlogic
sentence
sentenceletter
SkolemLwenheim
theorem
sound
statement
statementletter

structure
tautology
term
theory
truthtable
truthvalue
truthfunctional
universal
quantification
universalquantifier
unsatisfiable
valid
variable
wellformedformula

Speakinginlogic
Pronouncinglogicisaseasyas.Justfollowtheexamplesbelow.
Logic
true

F
ff
tt
a

Pronunciation
true
true
false
false
false
true
A

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b
d
c
x(x=x)
y(yy)

RS
RS

notB
Dandtrue
Corfalse
Foreveryx,xequalsx
Forsomey,ydoesnotequaly
Sisvalid
RimpliesS
RislogicallyequivalenttoS
Pronouncinglogic

Logicalandmetalogical
Itisimportanttodistinguishlogicalstatements,operators,andrelationshipsfrommetalogicalstatements,operators,andrelationships.
Logicalstatementsarethosethatstatesomethingaboutobjectsinthedomainofdiscourse,orsomethingaboutalogicalrelationshipbetween
sentencevariables.Metalogicalstatements,ontheotherhand,saysomethingaboutoneormorelogicalstatements.Examples:AB
and(AB)arelogicalstatementsABislogicallyequivalentto(AB)isametalogicalstatement.
Quinecharacterizesthisasadistinctionbetweenmentioningandusing[Quine1982mlp.50],orperhapsmorevigorouslyasadifference
betweenstatingandnaming.WhenIstatethatABandthat(AB),Ihaveusedthosetwologicalstatements,notmentioned
them.WhenIstatethatABislogicallyequivalentto(AB),ontheotherhand,Ihavenamedthetwostatements(bypresenting
theminquotes),notusedthem,andIhavesaidsomethingaboutthestatements(bynamingthemandstatingarelationship).
Theauthorswhoseworkiscollatedherekeepthisdistinctioninpartbybeingquitespecificaboutwhatthesyntacticformofalogical
statementis,andthusexcludingallotherstatements.Thusallmetalogicalstatementscanbesyntacticallydistinguishedfromlogical
statements,ifonefollowstherulesfastidiously.Seeformula,sentenceintheglossarybelow.

Summaryofpresentationsoflogic
Thissectionsummarizesintabularformsomeofthenotationandusagefortheauthorsdiscussedhere.
Citation
true
false not and or if iff univ. exist. ident.
[Bell+DeVidi+Solomon2001lo]

[Barwise+Etchemendy1992lfol] TRUE FALSE
x
x
=
[Boolos+Jeffrey1989cl]
1
0

& v x
x
=
[Kleene1967ml]
t

& x
x
[Quine1982ml]

p, pq
(Hilbert)
&

[Whitehead+Russell191013pm]
~
(x) (x)
(Peano)

(Pierce)
p
Logicalsymbols
Description
Example
Citations
Negationbyoverbar
p
Quine1982ml,(Pierce)
Conjunctionbycatenation
ab
Quine1982ml
Groupingbydots
a.bc Quine1982ml,Whitehead+Russell191013pm,(Peano)
Notablevariationsfromcurrentlogicalsyntax
[Boolos+Jeffrey1989cl] [Barwise+Etchemendy1992lfol] [Quine1982ml] [Bell+DeVidi+Solomon2001lo]
not
negation
and
conjunction
or
disjunction
if...then
materialimplication
implication
iff
materialbiconditional
biconditional
Logicalterminology
Citation
[Boolos+Jeffrey1989cl]

implies valid equivalent interpretation

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[Barwise+Etchemendy1992lfol]

Metalogicalsymbols
Citation
name
function
sentence
predicate
[Boolos+Jeffrey1989cl]
abc...
f(a)
S
xLyxFy...
[Barwise+Etchemendy1992lfol] abc... ab(a)bc(a,b)...
A(a)B(a,b)...
[Quine1982ml]
FxGy...
Generalnonlogicalsymbolusage

Glossaryofbasicterminology
atomicsentence
Anyofthefollowing[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.102]:
asentenceletter(seenonlogicalsymbol)
twotermsjoinedby=(seelogicalsymbol)or
annplacepredicateletterandanntupleofterms(seenonlogicalsymbol).
Anatomicsentencehasnocomponentsentencesorformulaethecomponentsof=andotherpredicatesareterm.Boolosand
Jeffreydistinguishatomicsentences,forwhichtherearenocorrespondingformulae,fromothersentences,whichcorrespondto
formulaebuthavenofreevariables.
Seesentence.
bearer
Seedesignation.
bind
Aquantifierissaidtobindthevariablethatisitsparameter[Barwise+Etchemendy1992lfolp.115].Freeoccurrencesofthe
variableinthesubformulaofthequantificationareboundbythequantifier.
boundvariable
Aboundvariableisonewhoserelationtotheobjectsofthedomainisspecified.Infirstorderlogic,variablesareboundby
quantifiersanyvariablethatisnotboundbyaquantifierisafreevariablewhoserelationtotheobjectsofthedomainis
unknown.
InaformulaxForxF,thevariablexisbound.
Seefreevariable,quantifier,variable.
closedsentence
Seesentence.
compact
Alogiciscompactifforanycountablesetofsentences,thereisafinitesubsetofsuchthatisunsatisfiableiffis
unsatisfiable.
compactnesstheorem
(Offirstorderlogic.)Anenumerablesetofsentencesisunsatisfiableifandonlyifthereisafinitesubsetofthatis
unsatisfiable[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.140].
complete
AtheoryTiscompleteifforeverypossiblesentenceAinthelanguageofT,eitherAorA(orboth)isatheoremofT
[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.177].
Informally,aformalsystemiscompleteifeverytruestatementcanbederivedinit.
AtheoryiscompleteandconsistentifforeverypossiblesentenceAinthelanguageofT,exactlyoneofAorAisatheoremof
T[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.177].
Compareconsistent.SeeGdel'sfirstinconsistencytheorem.
completenesstheorem
(Offirstorderlogic.)Ifanenumerablesetofsentencesisunsatisfiable,thenthereisafinitederivationfromcontaininga
contradiction[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.131].
conjunction
Aconjunctionisaformulacomposedoftwosubformulaetheconjunctionistrueifandonlyifbothitssubformulaearetrue.

true

true true

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true false false

false true false
false false false
Truthtablefor
conjunction
Aconjunctionisfrequentlywrittenas.Someothernotationsarelistedinthetableoflogicalsymbols.
AusefulmnemonicforisthatitresemblestheAinand.
consistent
Atheoryisconsistentifthereisnotheoremofthetheorywhosenegationisalsoatheorem[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.173].
Informally,asystemisconsistentifthereisnosentenceAforwhichitispossibletoderivebothAandAinthesystem.
Seesatisfiable.
denotation
Seedesignation.
designation
Foraname,theobjectinthedomainthatthenamedesignates[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.99].
Synonyms:bearer,denotation,reference.
disjunction
Adisjunctionisaformulacomposedoftwosubformulaethedisjunctionisfalseifandonlyifbothitssubformulaearefalse.

true true true
true false true
false true true
false false false
Truthtablefor
disjunction
Adisjunctionisfrequentlywrittenas.Someothernotationsarelistedinthetableoflogicalsymbols.
Thesymbolisnotanarbitrarychoice,butratherderivesfromtheLatinvelwhosemeaningcorrespondstodisjunction
[Quine1982mlp.12].(LatinalsopossessesawordautforexclusiveorAorBbutnotboth.)
domain
Acollectionofentities(aboutwhichwewishtoreason).
Example:inlogic,adomainthatisfrequentlyofinterestisthedomainoftheintegersandtheiroperationsandrelations.
Alsocalleduniverse,universeofdiscourse.
dot
(Deprecated.)Quine[Quine1982ml]sometimesusesasystemofdotstoexpressgrouping,insteadofparentheses.Where
parenthesesenclosegroups,dotsdividegroupswhereparenthesesnesttoindicatedeepergrouping,dotsaredoubled(or,
presumably,tripledorstackedevenhigher)todividestilllargergroups.Thisnotationisobsolete.
Example:
s(p(qr)(pq)r)t
wouldbedottedas
s:p.qr..pq.r:t
[Quine1982mlp.30,writtenwithforconjunction].
Churchusesasingledottomeanthesameasaleftbracketatthatlocationandarightbracketattheendofthesentence
[Church1958imlp.42].
elementarystatement
Seesentenceletter.[Bell+DeVidi+Solomon2001lop.67].
existentialquantification
Aformulaconstructedfromavariablex(theparameterofthequantification)andasubformulaF.Theexistentialquantification
istrueifandonlyifthesubformulaFistrueforatleastonepossiblevalueofthevariablex(someobjectinthedomain).
AnexistentialquantificationiswrittenasxFoccasionallythenotationx.Fisseen,butitisobsolete(seedot).

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Thequantifierxissaidtobindx(seeboundvariable,freevariable).AnyunboundinstanceofxinFbecomesboundinx
(F).
Seeexistentialquantifier,quantification,universalquantification.
existentialquantifier
xforsomevariablex.
firstorderlogic
Alogicinwhichquantificationisrestrictedtodomainobjects[Bell+DeVidi+Solomon2001lop.122].
Seesecondorderlogic.
formula
(Pluralformulaeorformulas.)
Asyntacticallycorrectutteranceinalogicallanguagethatmaycontainszeroormorefreevariables.
Utteranceswithpreciselyzerofreevariablesarealsocalledsentences.
ForBoolosandJeffrey,aformulaisoneofthefollowing,where,andarealsoformulae[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.101]:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

(&)
(v)
()
()
v
v

(negation)
(conjunction)
(disjunction)
(materialimplication)
(materialbiconditional)
(universal)
(existential)
Formulae

Inaddition,anyatomicsentenceisaformula.
BarwiseandEtchemendydefineformulaesimilarly,butusingtheirownlogicalsymbols[Barwise+Etchemendy1992lfol
p.117].
Quineusesopensentenceforthisconcept[Quine1982mlp.134].
Comparesentence.
freevariable
AvariableinaformulaFissaidtobefree(orunbound)inFifitisnotaboundvariableinF.
Afreevariableisonewhoserelationtotheobjectsinthedomainisunknown.
Seeboundvariable,variable.
function
Afunctiontakesoneormoretermsandproducesaterm.
Comparepredicatewhichtakesoneormoredomainobjectsandproduceseithertrueorfalse.
Gdel'sfirstincompletenesstheorem
Thereisnoconsistent,complete,axiomatizableextensionofQ(aspecificaxiomatizationofthenaturalnumbers)
[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.179].
Informally,theproofuseswhatistermedtheGdelstatement,G,whichis"Gcannotbeproventrue."IfGcanbeprovenunder
theextensionofQ,thentheextensionwouldbeinconsistent(asGstatesthatitcan'tbeproven)andifGcan'tbeproven,thenit
istrue,andtheextensionisincomplete.
Formally,theproofproceedsbyrepresentinganypossiblestatementinthelanguagebyanumber,sothat(afteranumberof
intermediatestages)provabilityofstatementsreducestodecidabilityofthesetofnumberscorrespondingtothem.(Iwastoldby
mylogicprofessorthatonlyafewdozenpeopleintheworld,includinghimself,reallyunderstandthisproofinitsentirety.)
Gdel'sfirstinconsistencytheorem
identity
Theidentitypredicateisabinarypredicatethatistrueonlyfortworeferencestothesameobject.WewriteR1=R2,whereR1
andR2arenamesorfunctions[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.96].
Comparelogicalequivalencewhichisametalogicalcomparisonoftwosentences.
iff
Anabbreviationforifandonlyif.
Seelogicalequivalence,materialbiconditional.
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implication
SentenceS1impliessentenceS2ifforeveryinterpretationIthatisaninterpretationofbothsentences,S2istrueinIifS1is
trueinI[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.104].
IfsentenceS1impliessentenceS2,wewriteS1S2[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.104].
ImplicationcanbegeneralizedtosetsS1,S2,...,Sn}ofsentences:impliessentenceSn+1ifforeveryIthatisaninterpretation
ofalln+1sentences,Sn+1istrueinIifeachofS1,S2,...,SnistrueinI.
Implicationisametalogicaloperation,nottobeconfusedwiththelogicalformulaofmaterialimplication.
inconsistent
Seeunsatisfiable.
interpretation
Aninterpretationgivesmeaningtothenonlogicalsymbolsofalanguage.BoolosandJeffreydefineaninterpretationas
[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.9899]:
1.Adomainthatisanonemptysetofobjectsthatthevariablesofthelanguagerangeover.Synonyms:universe,universe
ofdiscourse.
2.Adesignationforeachnameinthelanguagethedesignationisanentityinthedomain.Synonyms:bearer,denotation,
reference.
3.Afunctionforeachfunctionsymbolinthelanguage.Thefunctionforannplacefunctionsymbolmapseveryntuple
ofdomainobjectstoanobject.
4.Atruthvalueforeachsentenceletterinthelanguage(trueorfalse).
5.Acharacteristicfunctionforeachpredicateletterinthelanguage.Thecharacteristicfunctionforannplacepredicate
lettermapseveryntupleofdomainobjectstoeithertrueorfalse.
Aninterpretationmayalsobeviewedasaoperatorthattakesasentenceandgiveseithertrueorfalse.BoolosandJeffreywrite
thisoperationonsentenceSasI(S)[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.101].
Interpretationsarealsoknownasmodels(butseeglossaryentryformodel)orinterpretation.
Symbol
Domainandrange
variable
objectsinthedomain
name
aspecificobjectinthedomain
functionsymbol ntupleofdomainobjectsdomainobject
predicateletter
ntupleofdomainobjectstrueorfalse
sentenceletter
trueorfalse
Thedomainandrangeoflogicalandnonlogicalsymbols
Seemodel.
invalid
Asentenceisinvalidifitisfalseineveryinterpretation.
Seesatisfiable,unsatisfiable,valid.
language
BoolosandJeffreyuselanguagetorefertoacollectionofnonlogicalsymbolswhich,togetherwiththeusuallogicalsymbols,
maybeusedtoconstructformulaeandsentencesaboutaparticulardomain[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.97].
logicalequivalence
TwosentencesS1andS2arelogicallyequivalentifforeveryIthatisaninterpretationofbothS1andS2,I(S1) = I(S2)
[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.107,Quine1982mlp.60].
Logicalequivalenceisametalogicalrelationship,nottobeconfusedwiththelogicaloperationmaterialbiconditional.
logicalsymbol
Anyoftheconnectives,quantifiers,andothersymbolscommontoallfirstorderlogiclanguagesForBoolosandJeffreythese
arethevariables(enumerablyinfinitelymany)and
&v=(),
[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.97].Comparenonlogicalsymbol.Thetableoflogicalsymbolsliststhelogicalsymbols(otherthan
variables)usedbyvariousauthors.
Variousauthorsusedifferentterminologyforthelogicaloperators,summarizedinthetableoflogicalterminology.
Variousauthorsalsousedifferentrulesforparenthesization.
materialbiconditional
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(Deprecated.)Amaterialbiconditionalisaformulacomposedoftwosubformulaethematerialbiconditionalistrueifand
onlyifbothsubformulaearetrueorbothsubformulaearefalse.Itissometimesdescribedasthelogicalexpressionofifand
onlyifhowever,usuallylogicalequivalenceiswhatismeant.

true true true
true false false
false true false
false false true
Truthtablefor
material
biconditional
Amaterialbiconditionalisalmostuniversallywrittenas.Othernotationsarelistedinthetableoflogicalsymbols.
islogicallyequivalentto()(),andisprobablybestconsideredtobeanabbreviationforit.
Thematerialbiconditionalisalogicalformula,nottobeconfusedwiththemetalogicalrelationoflogicalequivalence.Perhaps
becauseofthispotentialconfusion,thematerialbiconditionaldoesnotseemtobeusedascommonlynowasinthepast.
materialconditional
Seematerialimplication.
materialimplication
(Deprecated.)Amaterialimplicationisaformulacomposedoftwosubformulae,calleditsantecedentandconsequentthe
antecedentisthesubformulaontheleft.Thematerialimplicationistrueifandonlyifitsconsequentistrueoritsantecedentis
false.Itissometimesdescribedasthelogicalexpressionofifthenhowever,usuallyimplicationisclosertowhatis
meant.

true true true
true false false
false true true
false false true
Truthtablefor
materialimplication
Amaterialimplicationisfrequentlywrittenas.Someothernotationsarelistedinthetableoflogicalsymbols.
islogicallyequivalentto(),andisprobablybestconsideredasanabbreviationforit.Manyauthorshavenotedthat
amaterialimplicationseemstobemakingastatementaboutonethingcausinganother(ifthen),butinfactdoesn'thave
anythingtodowithcausality.Seeparadoxesofclassicallogic.
Thematerialimplicationisalogicalformula,nottobeconfusedwiththemetalogicalrelationofimplication.Perhapsbecauseof
thispotentialconfusionandtherecognitionthatmaterialimplicationisn'tappropriatefordescribingcauseandeffect,thematerial
implicationdoesnotseemtobeusedascommonlynow.
Alsoknownasconditional.
metalogical
Formulaeandsentencesexpresspropertiesofdomainobjects,ormakestatementsaboutsentencevariablesandtruthvalues
metalogicalutterancesexpresspropertiesoforrefertoformulaeandsentences.
Themetalogicaloperatorsandpropertiesincludeimplication,satisfiabilityvalidity,logicalequivalence,andinterpretation.See
alsometavariable.
metavariable
Ametavariableisavariable(inthegeneralsense)thatreferstoaformula[Epstein2001plp.13].
Comparevariablesentenceletter,name.
model
Amodelofasentenceisaninterpretationinwhichthatsentenceistrue[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.105].
name
Anamedesignatestoaparticularobjectinthedomainofthelanguage[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.9899,
Barwise+Etchemendy1992lfolp.10].
Itispossibleforanobjecttohavemorethanonenamebuteachnamereferstoonlyoneobject.
Seenonlogicalsymbol,interpretation.
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negation
Anegationisaformulacomposedofasinglesubformulaethenegationistrueifandonlyifthesubformulaisfalse.

true false
false true
Truthtable
fornegation
Anegationisfrequentlywrittenas.Someothernotationsarelistedinthetableoflogicalsymbols.
nonlogicalsymbol
Anyofthesymbolsofaparticularlogiclanguage.BoolosandJeffreydividetheseintonames,functionsymbols,sentence
letters,andpredicateletters(andappropriatethetermlanguagetomeanasetofnonlogicalsymbols)[Boolos+Jeffrey1989cl
p.97].Seeinterpretation.
Ofcourse,eachlanguagemayhaveitsownconventionsfortheuseofitssymbolsthelanguageofarithmeticusesitsown
functionsandpredicates2+34,5^2,and6<4,asdoessettheoryabandTU.General,nonspecificusageforvarious
textsissummarizedinthetableofnonlogicalsyntax.
opensentence
Seeformula.
paradoxesofclassicallogic
Materialimplicationproducessomeresultsthatare,well,odd.TheseparadoxeswerepointedoutbyC.I.Lewisin1912(before
WhiteheadandRussellhadevengottenallthreeoftheirvolumespublished).
1.Anythingmateriallyimpliesatruething,whetherornotthefirstthingisconnectedwiththesecondorwhetherornotthe
firstthingiseventrue.
()
Examplesthataretruesincestrawberriesarered:
Ifthemoonismadeofgreencheesethenstrawberriesarered.
Iftheskyisbluethenstrawberriesarered.
2.Afalsethingmateriallyimpliesanythingandeverything.
()
Examplesthataretruesincethemoonisnotmadeofgreencheese:
Ifthemoonismadeofgreencheesethenstrawberriesarered.
Ifthemoonismadeofgreencheesethenpigscanfly.
Onemayarguethateachoftheseexamplesisobviouslytrue,assumingthatmaterialimplicationiswhatwasmeant.That
doesn'tseemtobeveryuseful,though.Whyusetoexpress"if...then..."ifitdoesn'tmeanwhatpeopleordinarilymeanby
"if...then..."?Reasoningalmostalwaysusessomepropertyofthethingsbeingreasonedaboutthatisnotincludedintheirtruth
values,andonthatbasisitisnothelpfultotrytoexpressthatreasoningusing.
[Epstein2001plp.89ff.]
parenthesization
Itissafesttocompletelyparenthesize,butthisittediousbothforwriterandreaderandinpracticeparenthesesareomitted
wheneverpossible.Unfortunatelythereisnosingleconventionfordoingso.
Itappearsuniversalthatbindsthetightestandalwaysappliestothenextsymbol,negation,orparenthesizedexpressionand
thatandbindtighterthananyremainingoperators.Howeverthereisnoestablishedcustomfortherelativepriorityofand
.Itappearssafesttouseparenthesestodisambiguatethem.Herearesomeconventions,beginningwiththemostrecent:
[Bell+DeVidi+Solomon2001lop.8]:tightest,then,then,then.
[Epstein2001plp.14]:bindstightest,thenandnext(andofequalstrength,inorderlefttoright),thenanyother
logicaloperator.
[Barwise+Etchemendy1992lfolp.42]:parenthesesarerequiredinexpressionscontainingbothand.
[Quine1982mlp.29]:negationtightest,thenconjunction,thenallothers.
[Kleene1967mlp.7]:tightest,then,then,then,then.
Seethetableoflogicalsymbols.
predicate
Apredicatetakesoneormoredomainobjectsandproduceseithertrueorfalseasaresult.Predicatesarethuswhatconnects
objectsandformulae.
propositionalvariable
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Avariablewhosevaluemaybetrueorfalseandwhichrepresentsanypropositionwhoseinternalstructurewontbeunder
consideration[Epstein2001plp.13].
Alsoknownasasentenceletter.
quantification
Quantificationisusedtostatepropertiesofaformulaoverallobjectsinadomain.TheexistentialquantificationxF(x)istrue
ifthereissomeobjectainthedomainforwhichF(a)istrue,andtheuniversalquantificationxFxistrueifF(x)istruefor
everyobjectinthedomain,ormoreexactlyitthereisnoobjectainthedomainforwhichF(a)isfalse.
Quantifiersusevariablesasparameterstodirecttherangingoverthedomain.Aquantifierissaidtobindthevariablethatisits
parameter[Barwise+Etchemendy1992lfolp.115].
quantifier
Eitheranexistentialquantifierorauniversalquantifier.Aquantifierisusedtomakeanassertionabouttheapplicationofa
formulatoeveryobjectinthedomain:eitherthattheformulaistrueforeveryobjectinthedomain(auniversalquantification)or
thatitistrueforsomeobjectinthedomain(anexistentialquantification).Aquantifieralsobindsitsvariable.
reference
Seedesignation.
satisfiable
AsentenceSissatisfiableifthereissomeinterpretationinwhichSistrue[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.104].
SatisfactioncanbegeneralizedtosetsS1,S2,...,Sn}ofsentences:issatisfiableifthereisaninterpretationIthatsatisfiesevery
sentencein[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.105].(Notethatbythisdefinitionissatisfiable.)
Quineusesconsistentforthecloselyrelatedconceptofatruthfunctionalschemathatistrueforatleastoneinterpretationofits
(sentence)lettershenamesthethreepossibilitiesinconsistent(falseforeverysentenceletterinterpretation),consistent(truefor
someinterpretation),andvalid(trueforallinterpretations).[Quine1982mlp.40].
Compareunsatisfiable,valid.
Alwaystrue
valid
satisfiable
Sometimestrue,
sometimesfalse unsatisfiable
Alwaysfalse
invalid
schema
(Pluralschemataorschemas.)
Inappearancelikeaformula,butinwhichlettersstandnotforatomicsentencesbutforsubformulawhosespecificsare
abstractedawayfornow[Quine1982mlp.33].
Aschemathusstandsfor(typically)aninfinitenumberofactualformulae,inwhicheachletteroftheschemahasbeenreplaced
bysomesubformula.
Wherethelettersoftheschemaarereplacedonlybytrueorfalse,nocomplicationensues.However,wherethelettersare
replacedbyformulae,cautionmustbeusedastheformulaemaynotbeindependentofeachother.Forexample,aninconsistent
schemaremainsinconsistent(andavalidschemaremainsvalid)ifitslettersarereplacedbyformulaebutaconsistentschema
doesnotnecessarilyremainconsistentifitslettersarereplacedbyformulae,becausethedependenceamongthesubformulae
maymakesomelinesoftheschemastruthtableimpossible[Quine1982mlp.44].
Epsteinusesmetavariablesascomponentsofformulaeaformulacontainingoneormoremetavariablesappearstobe
indistinguishablefromaschema.
Epsteinalsousesschemaasitsownplural,ratherthaneitherschemataorschemas.
secondorderlogic
Alogicinwhichquantificationisextendedbeyonddomainobjectstofunctions,predicates,and/oroperations
[Bell+DeVidi+Solomon2001lop.122].
AwellknownexampleofasecondorderstatementisLeibniz'sdefinitionofidentityxy[x=yP(PxPy)]
Seefirstorderlogic.
sentence
Asentenceisaformulacontainingnofreevariables[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.101,Barwise+Etchemendy1992lfolp.115]
Asentencehasoneofthefollowingsevenforms,andcontainsnofreevariables[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.101].Inthelistof
forms,S,S1,andS2arealsosentencesFisaformulaLSisasentenceletterLP1,LP2,LP3,...areone,two,three,...
placepredicatelettersandT1,T2,...areterms.
1.
2.

S
(S1&S2)

(negation)
(conjunction)

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3.

(S1S2)

(disjunction)

4.

S1S2)

(materialimplication)

5.

(S1S2)

(materialbiconditional)

6.
7.
8.

vF
vF
LS

(universal)
(existential)
(sentenceletter)

9.

T1=T2

(identitypredicate)

LP1T1or
10. T1LP2T2or
(predicate)
LP3(T1,T2,T3)or...
Sentences
Becauseasentencemayhavenofreevariables,theformulaFinitems6and7musthave(atmost)onefreevariable,anditmust
bethequantifierparameterv.
Quineusesstatementorclosedsentenceforthisconcept,andopensentenceforwhatwearetermingaformula[Quine1982ml
p.134].
Compareformula.
sentenceletter
Asentenceletterisaconstantreferencestandingforeithertrueorfalse[Boolos+Jeffrey1989cl].
ThisistermedanelementarystatementorstatementletterbyBelletal.[Bell+DeVidi+Solomon2001lop.67],anda
propositionalvariablebyEpstein,whosaystheystandforanypropositionwhoseinternalstructurewontbeunder
consideration[Epstein2001plp.13].
Comparenamewhichisaconstantreferencetoadomainobject.
Seeinterpretationwhich(amongotherthings)assignstrueorfalsetoeachsentenceletter.
SkolemLwenheimtheorem
(Offirstorderlogic.)Ifanenumerablesetofsentenceshasamodel,thenithasamodelwithanenumerabledomain
[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.131].
sound
Aproofsystemordecisionprocessissoundifitclassifiesasvalidonlythosesentencesthatareinfactvalid.
statement
Seesentence.
statementletter
Seesentenceletter.[Bell+DeVidi+Solomon2001lop.67].
structure
Seeinterpretation.
tautology
Atruthfunctionalschemaisatautologyifitistrueforeveryinterpretationofits(sentence)letters.
Comparevalid.
term
Atermissomethingthatreferstoadomainobject(seeinterpretation):eitheraname,orannplacefunctionsymbolappliedto
anntupleoftermsasitsparameters[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.102].
theory
AtheoryTisasetofallsentencesinsomelanguageKthatareimpliedbyTitself[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.106].
AtheoryalwayscontainsallvalidsentencesofK,astheseareimpliedbyanysetofsentencesofK.Thus,forexample,every
theorycontainsx(x=x)asthisisvalidineverylanguage.Thesesentencescanbethoughtofasthebasisofthetheory,andthat
thetheory,whichbydefinitionisclosedundertheoperationofimplication,canbeconstructedbyapplyingimplication
successivelyusingthesentencesalreadyinthetheory.
NotethatingeneraltherearetruesentencesinKthatarenotinaparticulartheoryT.Inparticular,foreverytheoryofany
languagethatincludesthelanguageofarithmetic,therearetruestatementsthatarenotinthetheory.Seecomplete.
truthtable
Atablepresentingacollectionoftrueandfalsevaluesforthecomponentsofasentence,andthecorrespondingvaluesofthe
sentence.Someexamplesofsimpletruthtablesappearattheentriesforconjunction,disjunction,andnegation.Inthesetables,
thecomponentsaresimplysentenceletters.
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Truthtablesarealsousedforanalyzingmorecomplexsentencesbyhand.Thenthetruthvaluesofthesmallestsubsentencesare
filledinundertheoperatorthatdefinesthem,continuingtolargersubsentencesuntiltheentiretableisfilled(oruntilthedesired
resultisobtained,forexampledemonstratingsatisfiability).Anexampletableappearsbelow:firstthepossiblevaluesforA,B,
andCareentered,thenthevaluesfor(AB)andCfinally,thevaluesfor(AB)Careenteredunderthe
[Barwise+Etchemendy1992lfolp.534].
A B C (AB) C

Emptytable

A
T
T
T
T
F
F
F
F

B C (AB) C
T T
T F
F T
F F
T T
T F
F T
F F
A,B,andCentered

A
T
T
T
T
F
F
F
F

B C (AB) C
T T
T
F
T F
T
T
F T
F
F
F F
F
T
T T
F
F
T F
F
T
F T
F
F
F F
F
T
(AB),Centered

A
T
T
T
T
F
F
F
F

B C (AB) C
T T
T
T F
T F
T
T T
F T
F
F F
F F
F
T T
T T
F
F F
T F
F
T T
F T
F
F F
F F
F
T T
(AB)Centered

truthvalue
Eithertrueorfalse.
Thetableoflogicalsymbolsliststhesymbolsusedbyvariousauthorsfortrueandfalse.
truthfunctional
Havingatruthvaluethatdependssolelyuponthetruthvaluesofitscomponentsandthestructureinwhichthesecomponentsare
combined.
Allformulaeasdefinedherearetruthfunctional(e.g.conjunction,disjunction,materialbiconditional,etc.),butnaturallanguage
sentencesaregenerallynot(e.g.Dontcrushthatdwarf,handmethepliers).
Beingtruthfunctionalmeansthatthetruthvalueofacomplexsentencebuiltupusingtheseconnectivesdependsonnothing
morethanthetruthvaluesofthesimplersentencesfromwhichitisbuilt[Barwise+Etchemendy1992lfolp.35].
universalquantification
Aformulaconstructedfromavariablex(theparameterofthequantification)andasubformulaF.Theuniversalquantification
istrueifandonlyifthesubformulaFistrueforallpossiblevaluesofthevariablex(allobjectsinthedomain).
Auniversalquantificationiswrittenasx(F)occasionallythisnotationisseenx.F,butitisobsolete(seedot).
Thequantifierxissaidtobindx(seeboundvariable,freevariable).AnyunboundinstanceofxinFbecomesboundinx
(F).
Seeuniversalquantification,quantification,existentialquantifier.
universalquantifier
xforsomevariablex.
unsatisfiable
Aformulaisunsatisfiableifitisnotsatisfiablethatis,ifitistruefornointerpretation.
Seesatisfiable,valid.
valid
Asentenceisvalidifitistrueineveryinterpretation[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.104].
IfSisvalid,wewriteS[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.104].
Comparetautology.
Seesatisfiable,unsatisfiable.
variable
Aletterthatcanrefertoanyobjectinthedomainofaninterpretation.Variablesareapartofthelogicalsymbols.Avariablevin
aformulaFbecomesboundifFisasubformulaofaquantifierwhoseparameterisvotherwise,visfree.
Seeboundvariable,freevariablecomparemetavariable,name,sentenceletter.
wellformedformula
Awellformedformula,alsocalledawff(pronouncedwiff),isasyntacticallycorrectformula[Epstein2001plp.13].
Theconceptofawffseemstodemandthataformulamaypotentiallybeillformedotherauthorsappeartouseformulafor
wff,orforemphasisusesyntacticallycorrectformula.

Historicalnotes
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Asomewhatbiasedandincompletesummaryofthehistoryoflogic:
ThestudyoflogicdatesbackabouttwoandahalfmillenniatoAristotle.Fromtheperspectiveofthecurrentday,Aristotleianlogicseems
toconsistofsomepropositionallogicwithoutagoodnotationandaproofsysteminwhichtheinferenceruleisessentiallythesubset
operation.FromthissubstantialbeginningnothingofmuchinterestdevelopeduntilFregedevelopedafirstorderformallogicthat
supportedquantifiersandnarypredicatesandfunctions,andinwhichsemanticsfollowedsyntax.Foratimelogicappearedtobeprimarily
thestudyofmathematicalproofsystems,ledbyWhiteheadandRussellandtoalesserextentHilbert.GdelsIncompletenessTheorem
gavethisprogramaseveresetback,buttheviewthatlogicisthehandmaidentomathematicalproofcontinuestothrive(tosomeextent,for
example,inBelletal.[Bell+DeVidi+Solomon2001lo]).Themainthrustoflogic,however,shiftedtocomputabilityandrelatedconcepts,
modelsandsemanticstructures,expressiveness,extensionsofclassicallogicforothersituations,andthestudyoflogicalsystemsas
subjectsofinterestintheirownright.
Oneofthemotivationsforthepresentworkisthediversityinsymbology,terminology,andontologyofconceptsamongprominent
authors.Thusisisofinteresttoseewhereandwhenvariousapproachesoriginated,andconsiderhowtheyhaveaffectedthepresentday.
Mostoftheinformationaboutsymbolsandapproachesfrombefore1950arefromQuine[Quine1982ml],whogivesahistoricalnoteat
theendofmostsections.
(Itisinterestingtonotehowthepointsofviewofvariousauthors,includingme,isexpressedintheirviewsofwhatwasimportantinthe
historyoflogic.Oneimportantpointofviewislogicasthebasisofmathematicalproofsthispointofviewseemstogoalongwiththe
ideathatmodernlogicbeganwithBoole,andthatFregewasunimportant.)

Examples
1.Anyonewholoveshimselflovessomeone{L:loves}
x(xLxyxLy)[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.96].
2.NoneofAlmaslover'sloversloveher{a:Alma,L:loves}
x[y(xLy&yLa)xLa][Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.96].Iwouldsaythatthisisexpressedby
x[y(xLy&yLa)xLa]
3.Nobodyhasmorethanonefather{F:isafatherof}
xyz[(xFz&yFz)x=y][Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.96].
4.Almalovesherpaternalgrandfather{a:Alma,F:isafatherof,L:loves}
aLf(f(a))[Boolos+Jeffrey1989clp.97].
5.Everyonethinkseveryoneisanonlychild[Kripke,quotedinPreti2003kp.5].

References
Barwise+Etchemendy1992lfol
JonBarwiseandJohnEtchemendy.TheLanguageofFirstOrderLogic.Thirdedition.CSLIPublications,Stanford,
California.1992.
Bell+DeVidi+Solomon2001lo
JohnL.Bell,DavidDeVidi,andGrahamSolomon.Logicaloptions.Broadview,Peterborough,Ontario.2001.
Boolos+Jeffrey1989cl
GeorgeS.BoolosandRichardC.Jeffrey.ComputabilityandLogic.Thirdedition.CambridgeUniversityPress.1989.
Church1958iml
AlonzoChurch.IntroductiontoMathematicalLogic.Secondedition.PrincetonUniversityPress.1958.
Epstein2001pl
RichardL.Epstein.PropositionalLogics.Secondedition.Wadsworth,Belmont,CA,USA.2001.
Kleene1967ml
StephenColeKleene.MathematicalLogic.WileyandSons.1967.
Preti2003k
ConsueloPreti.OnKripke.Wadsworth.2003.
Quine1982ml
W.V.Quine.MethodsofLogic.Fourthedition.HarvardUniversityPress.1982.
Tarski1949ilmd
AlfredTarski.IntroductiontoLogicandtotheMethodologyofDeductiveSciences.Secondedition.OxfordUniversityPress,
NewYork.1949.
Whitehead+Russell191013pm
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A.N.WhiteheadandB.Russell.Principiamathematica.CambridgeUniversityPress.191013.

TA.A

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