Marikina Polytechnic College

History of SYMBOLIC LOGIC

Logic is the study of the principles and techniques
of reasoning.
• Greek, lógos, "speech", "reasoning"
• The ancient Greeks were the first people to
systematically analyze the way humans think and arrive
at conclusions.
• Aristotle (384–322 b.c.) father of logic who organized
the study of logic for the first time in a work called
Organon. The logic from this period, called Aristotelian
logic, has been taught and studied for more than 2000
years.
 History of SYMBOLIC LOGIC

Since Aristotle’s time, the study of logic has been

continued by other great philosophers and
mathematicians. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716)
had a deep conviction that all mathematical and scientific
concepts could be derived from logic. As a result, he
became the first serious student of symbolic logic. One
difference between symbolic logic and Aristotelian logic is
that in symbolic logic, as its name implies, symbols
(usually letters) represent written statements.
 History of SYMBOLIC LOGIC

A self-educated English mathematician, George

Boole (1815–1864), is considered to be the founder of
symbolic logic because of his impressive work in this
area. Among Boole’s publications are The Mathematical
Analysis of Logic (1847) and An Investigation of the Law
of Thought (1854). Mathematician Charles Dodgson,
better known as Lewis Carroll, incorporated many
interesting ideas from logic into his books Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking
Glass and his other children’s stories.
 LOGIC

Why This is Important

• The study of logic enables us to communicate

effectively, make more convincing arguments, and
develop patterns of reasoning for decision making.

• Logic is also used in the programming of modern

electronic devices such as cell phones and digital
cameras.
 INTRODUCTION
• English and other natural languages are composed of
various words and phrases with distinct functions that
have a bearing on the meaning of the sentences in
which they occur.

• English sentences may be classified as declarative,

interrogative, exclamatory, or imperative.
• In the study of logic, we assume that we are able to
recognize a declarative sentence (or statement) and to
form an opinion as to whether it is true or false.
 PROPOSITIONS
A proposition (or statement) is a declarative statement
which is true or false, but not both.

Consider, for example, the following six sentences:

1) Ice floats in water.
2) 2 + 4 = 6
3) Where are you going?
4) China is in Europe.
5) 3 < 5
6) Do your homework.
7) x + y = c
Which of these sentences are propositions?
 EXERCISES No. 1
Which of the following are propositions?
a. Toronto is the capital of Ontario.
b. Close the door!
c. Who is the chief justice of the Supreme Court?
d. The new television sit-com is a successful show.
e. The 2015 Winter Olympic Games were held in
the Philippines.
f. x + 3 = 8
g. How wonderful!
h. Either seven is an odd number or it is even.
 ANSWER
Which of the following are propositions?
a. Toronto is the capital of Ontario.
b. Close the door!
c. Who is the chief justice of the Supreme Court?
d. The new television sit-com is a successful show.
e. The 2015 Winter Olympic Games were held in
the Philippines.
f. x + 3 = 8
g. How wonderful!
h. Either seven is an odd number or it is even.
 COMPOUND PROPOSITIONS

• A compound proposition is a proposition formed by

connecting two or more propositions or by negating a
single proposition. The words and phrases (or
symbols) used to form compound propositions are
called connectives.

• A prime or simple proposition is a simple statement

expressing a single complete thought.
 COMPOUND PROPOSITIONS

In the ensuing discussion, we use the

• lowercase letters p, q, r, and so on to denote

simple propositions and

• uppercase letters P, Q, R, and so on to denote

compound propositions.
 EXERCISES no. 2

Determine the simple and compound propositions below.

1) Three is greater than seven.
2) 2 + 8 = 10
3) Jake is smart or he studies every night.
4) India is in Africa.
5) Roses are red and violets are blue.
6) This weekend I will meet Sarah or Lavinia.
 Sentence
may be
Not a Proposition A Proposition
with another

Simple Proposition Proposition

True may be False connected by

   ~

Double
Disjunction Conjunction Implication Negation
Implication
is a
True
Compound Proposition may be
False
 TRUTH VALUE
• The truthfulness or falsity of a proposition and
denoted by T(true) and F(false), respectively.
(These values are often denoted by 1 and 0
by computer scientists.)
TRUTH TABLE
• It is a table that shows the truth value of a
compound proposition for all possible cases.
• It is a device used to determine when a
compound statement is true or false.
 LOGICAL CONNECTIVES

• the words that are used to combine propositions

Formal Name Symbol Read Symbolic Form

Negation  or ~ “not”  p or ~ p
Conjunction  “and” pq
Disjunction  “or” pq
Conditional  “if – then” pq
Biconditional  “if and only if” pq
 1) NEGATION
• The proposition  p or ~ p is true if p is false and
vice versa.
EXAMPLE
Form the negation of the propositions
p : Euler is German. Truth Table
~ p : Euler is not German. p ~p
q : 5 is an even integer. T F
~ q : 5 is not an even integer. or
F T
5 is an odd integer.
r : 4 + 7 = 11
~ r : 4 + 7  11
 QUANTIFIERS
• We must use special caution when negating
statements containing the words all, none (or no), and
some. These words are referred to as quantifiers.
• The negation of quantified statements is summarized
as follows:

Form of Statement Form of Negation

All are Some are not
None are Some are
Some are None are
Some are not All are
 QUANTIFIERS
The following diagram might help you to remember the
statements and their negations:

All are None are

Some are Some are not

The quantifiers diagonally opposite each other are the

negations of each other.
 EXERCISES no. 3
Write the negation of each statement.
a) Some telephones can take photographs.
b) All houses have two stories.
c) The price of the Manila Stock Exchange Composite Index
rose today.
ANSWER:
a) “No telephones can take photographs.”
b) “Some houses do not have two stories.” or
“Not all houses have two stories.” or
“At least one house does not have two stories.”
c) “The price of the Manila Stock Exchange Composite Index
did not rise today.”
 2) CONJUNCTION
• The conjunction p  q is true if both p and q are true;
it is false otherwise.

EXAMPLE Truth Table

The two propositions
p: Toronto is the capital of Ontario. p q pq
q: Toronto is the largest city in Canada. T T T
were combined to form the conjunction T F F
p  q : Toronto is the capital of Ontario
F T F
and is the largest city in Canada.
F F F
 2) CONJUNCTION
• The conjunction is generally expressed as and. Other
words sometimes used to express a conjunction are
but, however, and nevertheless.
• If p and q are statements, then
p but q means p and q
neither p nor q means ∼p and ∼q.
EXAMPLE
Write each of the following sentences symbolically,
letting h = “It is hot” and s = “It is sunny.”
a. It is not hot but it is sunny.
b. It is neither hot nor sunny.
ANSWER a) ∼h ∧ s b) ∼h ∧ ∼s
 3) DISJUNCTION
• The disjunction p  q is false if both statements p and q
are false; it is true in all other cases.
• An inclusive disjunction is a proposition of the form
when both p and q are true, as well as when only one of
p and q is true. Truth Table
EXAMPLE
p q pq
Consider the propositions
p: James will go to the SM Marikina. T T T
q: James will go to the Riverbanks. T F T
The disjunction is
F T T
p  q : James will go to the SM Marikina
or James will go to the Riverbanks. F F F
 EXCLUSIVE DISJUNCTION
• An exclusive disjunction p  q is true if either p or
q is true but not both.
EXAMPLE 1
Consider the statements
Truth Table
r : Carlo will play basketball
at 4 P.M. today. p q p q
s : Carlo will go to a party T T F
at 4 P.M. today. T F T
Then exclusive disjunction is
F T T
r  s : Carlo will play basketball or
go to a party at 4 P.M. today. F F F
 EXCLUSIVE DISJUNCTION
EXAMPLE 2
Consider the propositions
p : The base price of each condominium unit
includes a private deck.
q : The base price of each condominium unit
includes a private patio.
The exclusive disjunction is
p  q : The base price of each condominium unit
includes either a private deck or a patio, but
not both.
 EXERCISES no. 4
1. Let p and q denote the propositions

p : Domestic car sales increased over the past year.

q : Foreign car sales decreased over the past year.

Express the following compound propositions in words:

a. p  q b. p  q c. p v q

d. ~p e. ~p  q f. ~p  ~q
 Answer
1)
a. Domestic car sales increased over the past year, or foreign car
sales decreased over the past year, or both.
b. Domestic car sales increased over the past year, and foreign car
sales decreased over the past year.
c. Either domestic car sales increased over the past year or foreign
car sales decreased over the past year.
d. Domestic car sales did not increase over the past year.
e. Domestic car sales did not increase over the past year, or foreign
car sales decreased over the past year, or both.
f. Domestic car sales did not increase over the past year, or foreign
car sales did not decrease over the past year, or both.
 EXERCISES no. 4
2. Let p and q denote the propositions
p : The SAT verbal scores improved in this school district last year.
q : The SAT math scores improved in this school district last year.
Express each of the following statements symbolically.
a. The SAT verbal scores and the SAT math scores improved in
this school district last year.
b. Either the SAT verbal scores or the SAT math scores improved
in this school district last year.
c. Neither the SAT verbal scores nor the SAT math scores
improved in this school district last year.
d. It is not true that the SAT math scores did not improve in this
school district last year.
 Answer
2.
a. The SAT verbal scores and the SAT math scores improved in
this school district last year. pq
b. Either the SAT verbal scores or the SAT math scores improved
in this school district last year. pq
c. Neither the SAT verbal scores nor the SAT math scores
improved in this school district last year. ~p  ~q
d. It is not true that the SAT math scores did not improve in this
school district last year. ~(~ q)
Construct and Interpret a Truth Table

EXAMPLE 1
a) Construct a truth table for the following statement:
Jo is not an artist and Jo is not a musician.
b) Under which conditions will the compound statement
be true?
c) Suppose “Joe is an artist” is a false statement and
“Joe is a musician” is a true statement.
Is the compound statement given in part (a) true
or false?
Construct and Interpret a Truth Table

ANSWER
a) First write the simple statements in symbolic form by
using simple nonnegated statements.
Let
p : Jo is an artist.
q : Jo is a musician.

Thus, the compound statement may be written ~p  ~q.

Now construct a truth table with four cases.
 Construct and Interpret a Truth Table
p q ~p ~q ~p ~q
T T F F F
T F F T F
F T T F F
F F T T T
b) The compound statement in part (a) will be true only in
case 4 when both simple statements, p and q, are false.
c) When p is false and q is true, the compound
statement, case 3 is false.
Construct a Truth Table with Eight Cases

EXAMPLE 2
a) Construct a truth table for the statement
“Jericho is home and he is not at his desk, or he is
sleeping.”
b) Suppose that “Jericho is home” is a false
statement, that “Jericho is at his desk” is a true
statement, and that “Jericho is sleeping” is a true
statement. Is the compound statement in part (a)
true or false?
Construct a Truth Table with Eight Cases
ANSWER
a) Let
p : Jericho is home.
q : Jericho is at his desk.
r : Jericho is sleeping.

“Jericho is home and he is not at his desk, or he is sleeping.”

(p  ~ q)  r

In symbolic form, the statement is ( p  ~q)  r.

 Construct a Truth Table with Eight Cases
p q r ~q p  ~q ( p  ~q)  r
b) “Jericho is home”
F T T T F F T
“Jericho is at his desk”
T T T F F F F
“Jericho is sleeping”
T T F T T T T
T F F T T T
F T T F F T
F T F F F F
F F T T F T
F F F T F F
Determine Truth Values Without Constructing
a Truth Table

Use the figure to determine

the truth value of the
following statement:
There are more dogs owned
than cats and there are fewer
reptiles owned than birds, or
the most numerous pets
owned are not fish.
 Determine Truth Values Without Constructing
a Truth Table
Let
p : There are more dogs owned than cats.
q : There are fewer reptiles owned than birds.
r : The most numerous pets owned are fish.
The given compound statement can be written in symbolic
form as ( p  q)  ~r.
( p  q)  ~r
( F  T)  F
FF
F
Thus, the original compound statement is a false statement.
 EXERCISES no. 5
I. Construct a truth table for the statement.
1) r  ( p  ~q)

2) ( p  q)  ~(p  ~r)

II. Write the statement in symbolic form and construct a truth

table.
1) I have worked all week, but I have not been paid.

2) It is false that Jasper Adams is a tutor and Mark Russo is

a secretary.
 EXERCISES no. 5
III. Determine the truth value for each simple statement. Then
use these truth values to determine the truth value of the
compound statement.

1) 12 3 = 4(1) and 4 < -3, or 25 = 32

2) Joey Reyes is a movie director and Xian Lim is an actor,

but Sharon Cuneta is not an actress.

3) Iraq is in Africa or Iran is in South America, and Malaysia

is in the Middle East.