Chapter 3: Logic

“She invoked her Fifth Amendment rights and refused to testify, so she must be guilty.”

“Senator Faulk’s Bill on the new vaccination policy is a sham because he has accepted contributions from
the financial backers that produce the vaccine.”

“The libraries are always over-crowded during final exam week. We need to change the final exam week
so that the library will not be so over-crowded when students need a quiet place to study.”

Each of the above three statements contains some logical error.

In this module, we will study logic as a science of how to evaluate arguments and reasoning. In so doing,
we will further develop your critical thinking and higher reasoning skills. The over-riding goal of this
study is to be able to appropriately employ logic to separate valid and invalid statements.

When you successfully complete this study, you will have learned the following:
• How to distinguish between statements and non-statements.
• How to use logic symbols to express English language statements.
• How to express a quantified statement in at least two different ways.
• How to construct negation of singular and quantified statements.
• How to construct truth tables for logical statements to determine validity.
• How to use De Morgan’s Laws to negate compound statements.
• How to determine the validity of an argument by both truth tables and syllogistic reasoning.

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3.1 Statements, Negations and Quantified Statements

Learning Objectives

1. Be able to identify English sentences that are statements.

2. Be able to express English sentences with logic symbols.
3. Be able to negate a statement
4. Be able to negate a compound statement.
4 Be able to express a negation symbolically.
5. Be able to write in English language a symbolic expression.
6. Be able to express a quantified statement in at least two equivalent ways.

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Lecture Notes
Statements and Logic Symbols

Definitions
1) A statement is an English sentence (or fragment) which is true or false; but cannot be both
simultaneously.

2) The negation of a statement is the logical opposite of that statement. The negation will have the
opposite truth value of the corresponding statement. If we let 𝑝𝑝 represent a statement; then the
notation “~𝑝𝑝" represents the negation of 𝑝𝑝.

3) Quantifier are words such as all, none (or no), or some, that express an amount

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Example 1: Which of the following are statements? Explain.
A) The sky is blue.

B) New York City is in the state of Vermont.

C) Let’s go to the zoo.

D) Star Trek IV is the best movie ever.

Example 2: Consider the statement:

Benjamin Franklin was the fourth president of the United States.”
Determine which of the following statements are negations. Explain.
A) Benjamin Franklin was never president.

B) Benjamin Franklin was not the fourth president.

C) Benjamin Franklin was the third president.

D) James Madison was the fourth president.

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Example 3: Construct a negation of each of the statements both in English language and symbolically.
A) 𝑝𝑝: Mary is at work.

B) 𝑞𝑞: Today is not a holiday.

Example 4: Let 𝑝𝑝, 𝑞𝑞, and 𝑟𝑟 represent the following statements:

𝑝𝑝: The air conditioner is working.

𝑞𝑞: The pool water is not cold.

𝑟𝑟: Students do not study enough.

Express each of the following symbolically.

A) Students study enough.

B) The air conditioner is not working.

C) The pool water is not cold.

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Quantified Statements

A quantified statement contains terms such as all, some, or none (no) which describe amounts. These
words are called quantifiers. Provided for you is a table of common quantified statements and their
equivalent counterparts.

For the table, we let 𝐴𝐴 and 𝐵𝐵 represent statements. You write the equivalent form of each example.

Negation of Quantified Statements

The negation of All is Some; and the negation of Some is None.
All 𝐴𝐴 are 𝐵𝐵. No 𝐴𝐴 are 𝐵𝐵.

Some 𝐴𝐴 are 𝐵𝐵. Some 𝐴𝐴 are not 𝐵𝐵.

Example 5: Construction a negation of each of the following. Both 𝐴𝐴 and 𝐵𝐵 represent statements.
A) All 𝐴𝐴 are 𝐵𝐵.

B) Some 𝐴𝐴 are 𝐵𝐵.

C) No 𝐴𝐴 are 𝐵𝐵.

D) Some 𝐴𝐴 are not 𝐵𝐵.

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Example 6: For each of the following quantified statements: A) Construct an equivalent quantified
statement; and B) Construct a negation of that statement. Quantified statements should begin with all,
some, or none (no).
𝑝𝑝: All of you are invited to the party.
A)

B)

𝑞𝑞: Some of you will get your dream job.

A)

B)

𝑟𝑟: No dogs go to Heaven.

A)

B)

Think About It
A salesperson tells you that,
“All tablets are on sale at their lowest price of the year.”
So, you buy a tablet. You later learn that the salesperson never tells the truth. What should you
conclude about the price you paid for your new tablet?

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