A little Propositional Logic

Propositional Logic
• Basics of propositional logic are a way to
symbolize the parts of arguments so that
we can analyze whole arguments for
validity.
Statement: which can be regarded as either
True or False.

Simple Statement: consists of ONE

statement.
Ex. “Tina is tall.”

Compound Statement: consists of TWO or

MORE statements.
Ex. “Tina is tall and Sarah is tall.”
Putting statements in symbolic form

• For Simple Statements

Ex. “Tina is tall” = p

• For Compound Statements

Ex. “Tina is tall and Sarah is tall.”
: “Tina is tall.” = p
“Sarah is tall” = q
:p&q
Example
• Put the following statements in symbolic form.
1. “Ken hit a home.”
=p

2. “Hank went fishing and Drik went hunting”

: Hank went fishing = p
Drik went hunting = q
:p&q
3. “France is in Europe and China in Asia.”
: France is in Europe = p
China is in Asia = q
:p&q

4. “France and Germany are in Europe”

: France and Germany are in Europe. = p
 Making Truth Tables
• For single variable „p‟

• For two variables „p‟ and „q‟

 Making Truth Tables
• For three variables „p‟ „q‟ and „r‟
Important Rule
• All the variables are represented in small-caps.
example: p, q, r

• Premises are represented with an asterisk mark

on top of the variable.
example: p*

• Conclusion is represented with capital letter „C‟

at the end of the variable.
example: qC
Important Rule
• In a valid argument it is impossible for all
premises to be true and the conclusion to
be false.
Important Rule
• Look for Invalidity first and then go for
Validity.
i.e First identify that combination in which
all premises are true and the conclusion is
false. (T-T-F) or (T-T-T-F)

• If this combination is not present then the

argument automatically becomes Valid.
(T-T-T) or (T-T-T-T)
 Conjunction

….usage of word “AND”

Making Truth Tables for conjunction

Example: “Tina is tall and Sarah is tall.”

: Tina is tall = p
Sarah is tall = q
:p&q
Example
• Assume a, b, c are True and x, y, z are False.
• Determine whether following are True or False.

1. a & b
=T&T=T
2. b & z
=T&F=F
3. x & y
=F&F=F
4. y & a
=F&T=F
Conjunction and Validity
Example:
Tina is tall.
Sarah is tall.
So, Tina is tall, and Sarah is tall.

p* : Premise
q* : Premise
p & qC : Conclusion
Conjunction and Validity
Answer:

 The possibility of all premises being true and conclusion

being false is absent.
 Alternatively; the possibility of all premises as well as
the conclusion being true is present in the first case; as
shown in the truth table.
 Hence, The Argument is Valid in nature.
Example:
The sky is blue.
The grass is green.
Therefore, the sky is blue, and the grass is green.

Answer:
p*
q*
p & qC

 The possibility of all premises being true and conclusion

being false is absent.
 Alternatively; the possibility of all premises as well as
the conclusion being true is present in the first case; as
shown in the truth table.
 Hence, The Argument is Valid in nature.
Example:
The grass is green.
So, grass is green, and the sky is blue.

Answer:
p*
p & qC
 The possibility of all premises being true and
conclusion being false is present in the second
case.
 Hence, The Argument is Invalid in nature.
Example:
Franklin is short and stout.
So, Franklin is short.

Answer:
p & q*
pC

 The possibility of all premises being true and conclusion

being false is absent.
 Alternatively; the possibility of all premises as well as
the conclusion being true is present in the first case; as
shown in the truth table.
 Hence, The Argument is Valid in nature.
Example:
The train was on time. The bus was late. So, the
train was on time and the bus was late.

Answer:
p*
q*
p & qC
 The possibility of all premises being true and conclusion
being false is absent.
 Alternatively; the possibility of all premises as well as
the conclusion being true is present in the first case; as
shown in the truth table.
 Hence, The Argument is Valid in nature.
Example:
The train was on time. So, the train was on
time and the bus was late.

Answer:
p*
p & qC

 The possibility of all premises being true and

conclusion being false is present in the second case.
 Hence, The Argument is Invalid in nature.
Example:
The train was on time. So, the bus was late.

Answer:
p*
qC

 The possibility of all premises being true and

conclusion being false is present in the second case.
 Hence, The Argument is Invalid in nature.
Negation
Negation
• Use of word ‘NOT’
• Symbolized as: ~ : called as negation

Example
Tina is NOT tall. = ~p
Negation
Example
Frank is not angry and Hank is not tired.
~p & ~q
• Assume that a, b, c are true and x, y and
z are false. Then answer the following is
true or false.

1. ~a & b
= F&T = F
2. ~x & y
= T&F = F
3. ~z & c
= T&T = T
• Assume that a, b, c are true and x, y and
z are false. Then answer the following is
true or false.

4. ~(a & b)
= ~(T&T) = ~T = F
5. ~(c & ~z)
= ~(T&T) = ~T = F
6. ~x & ~z
= T&T = T
Example
“Tina is not tall and Sarah is tall. So, Tina is
not tall.”

Answer:
~p & q*
~pC

 The possibility of all premises being true and conclusion

being false is absent.
 Alternatively; the possibility of all premises as well as
the conclusion being true is present in the fourth case;
as shown in the truth table.
 Hence, The Argument is Valid in nature.
Example
Frank does not drive a truck. So, Frank
does not drive a truck, and Vinny does not
drive a minivan.

Answer:
~p*
~p & ~qC

 The possibility of all premises being true and

conclusion being false is present in the fourth case.
 Hence, The Argument is Invalid in nature.
Example
It is not the case that Tina is tall and Sarah
is tall. So, Tina is not tall, and Sarah is not
tall.

Answer:
~(p & q)*
~p & ~qC

 The possibility of all premises being true and

conclusion being false is present in the fourth case.
 Hence, The Argument is Invalid in nature.
Example
It is not the case that John failed Calculus and
Chemistry. John didn‟t fail Calculus. So, he
didn‟t fail Chemistry.

Answer:
~(p & q)*
~p*
~qC

 The possibility of all premises being true and

conclusion being false is present in the fourth case.
 Hence, The Argument is Invalid in nature.
Example
It is not the case that John failed Calculus and
Chemistry. So, John didn‟t fail Calculus and
didn‟t fail Chemistry.

Answer:
~(p & q)*
~ p & ~qC

 The possibility of all premises being true and

conclusion being false is present in the fourth case.
 Hence, The Argument is Invalid in nature.
Example
It is not the case that John failed Calculus and Chemistry.
John failed Calculus. So he didn‟t fail Chemistry.

Answer:
~(p & q)*
p*
~qC

 The possibility of all premises being true and conclusion

being false is absent.
 Alternatively; the possibility of all premises as well as the
conclusion being true is present in the second case; as
shown in the truth table.
 Hence, The Argument is Valid in nature.
Example
Jack didn‟t commit the crime, and the Mac didn‟t commit
the crime. So, it is not the case that Jack and the Mac
committed the crime.

Answer:
~p & ~q*
~(p & q)C

 The possibility of all premises being true and conclusion

being false is absent.
 Alternatively; the possibility of all premises as well as the
conclusion being true is present in the fourth case; as
shown in the truth table.
 Hence, The Argument is Valid in nature.
Deeper Analysis of Negation & Conjunction
Example
Tina is tall. Sarah is not tall, but Missy is tall.
So, Tina is tall, and Missy is tall.

p*
~q & r*
p & rC

 The possibility of all premises being true and conclusion

being false is absent.
 Alternatively; the possibility of all premises as well as
the conclusion being true is present in the second case;
as shown in the truth table.
 Hence, The Argument is Valid in nature.
Example
The train was on time, but the bus was not on time. The
plane was on time. Therefore, it‟s not the case that the bus
and the plane were on time.

Answer:
p & ~q*
r*
~ (q & r)C

 The possibility of all premises being true and conclusion

being false is absent.
 Alternatively; the possibility of all premises as well as the
conclusion being true is present in the third case; as shown
in the truth table.
 Hence, The Argument is Valid in nature.
Example
Bill Clinton didn‟t serve two terms in office, but Jimmy
Carter did. George H. W Bush served two terms in office.
So, it is not the case that both Carter and Bush did not
serve two terms in office.

Answer:
~ p & q*
r*
~ (~ (q & r)) C

 The possibility of all premises being true and conclusion

being false is present in the third case.
 Hence, The Argument is Invalid in nature.
Disjunction
Disjunction
• Use of word ‘OR’
• Symbolized as: ‘v’ : called as wedge

Example
Frank is angry or Hank is tired.
pvq
Example
Frank is angry or Hank is tired. So, Frank
is angry.

Answer:
p v q*
pC

 The possibility of all premises being true and

conclusion being false is present in the fourth
case.
 Hence, The Argument is Invalid in nature.
Example (Disjunction + Negation + Conjunction)
It‟s not the case that Frank is angry or Hank is tired. So,
Frank is not angry and Hank is not tired.

Answer:
~(p v q)*
~p & ~qC

 The possibility of all premises being true and conclusion

being false is absent.
 Alternatively; the possibility of all premises as well as
the conclusion being true is present in the fourth case;
as shown in the truth table.
 Hence, The Argument is Valid in nature.
Example
Frank is angry or Hank is tired. It‟s not the case that
Hank is tired and Larry is lonely. So, Hank is tired.

Answer:
p v q*
~(q & r)*
qC

 The possibility of all premises being true and conclusion

being false is present in the third case.
 Hence, The Argument is Invalid in nature.
Conditional Statement

…presence of If – then
relationship.
Conditional Statement
• If – then statement
• Antecedent & Consequent
• “If it rained, then the ground is wet.”
• “it rained”= antecedent = p
• “ground is wet”= consequent = q
Example
If it rained, then the ground is wet. It rained. So, the
ground is wet.

Answer:
p → q*
p*
qc
 The possibility of all premises being true and
conclusion being false is absent.
 Alternatively; the possibility of all premises as well as
the conclusion being true is present in the first case;
as shown in the truth table.
 Hence, The Argument is Valid in nature.
Example
If it rained, then the ground is wet. The ground is not
wet. So, it did not rain.

Answer:
p → q*
~q*
~pC

 The possibility of all premises being true and

conclusion being false is absent.
 Alternatively; the possibility of all premises as well as
the conclusion being true is present in the fourth case;
as shown in the truth table.
 Hence, The Argument is Valid in nature.