Logic and Formality

What is logic?

Logic is the study of the principle of correct reasoning, one of the principles in logic that is very
much important to study is on how to determine the validity of ones argument. Studying
mathematics is also studying theorems.

As stated by Heylighen F. and Dewaele J-M in the “Formality of Language: Definition and
Measurement”, an expression is completely formal when it is context independent and precise
(i.e. non-fuzzy), that is, it represents a clear distinction which is invariant under changes of
context.

a) Definition

it is a formal statement of the meaning of a word or group of words and it could stand alone.

b) Theorem

A theorem is a statement that can be demonstrated to be true by accepted mathematical

operations and arguments.

c) Proof
Proof is a rigorous mathematical argument which unequivocally demonstrates the truth of a
given proposition.

The different methods on proof are as follows:

1. Deductive
2. Inductive
3. Direct Proof
4. Indirect Proof
5. Proof by Counterexample
6. Proof by Contradiction

d) Proposition

it is a declarative statement that is true or false but not both. This statement is another major part
of formality since all types of proposition are precise and concise.

Different propositions that can be also said as logical connectives are as follows:
 1. Negation
How does the statement translate into its negation. Say, given any statement P, another
statement called the negation of P can be formed by writing “It is false that …” before P, or
if possible, by inserting in P the word “not”. For example, the given statement is “Roderick
attends Mathematics class”. Translating this into its negation, the new statement would be
“Roderick will not attend Mathematics class” or it could be “It is false that Roderick attends
Mathematics class”.

2. Conjunction
Another logical connective is what we called conjunction. If two statements are combined by
the word “and”, then the proposition is called conjunction.

Disjunction

Disjunction is another form of proposition. Any two statements can be combined by the word
“or” to form a new statement which is called the disjunction of the original two statements.

Conditional

The fourth type of proposition is that what we called conditional. To be able to easily
identify that the proposition is in a form of conditional statement, you will notice of the word
“If-then”.

3. Biconditional

The last type of proposition is the biconditional. Its uses a connector for two statements “if an
only if”.

e) Corollary

it is also a proposition that follows with little or no proof required from one already proven.

f) Lemma

Another formal statement is a lemma and it can also be considered as a theorem. The only
difference of a lemma into a theorem is that lemma is a short theorem used in proving a larger
theorem.

Conjecture

A proposition which is consistent with known data, but has neither been verified nor shown to be
false