Help with Symbolic Logic SD+ Question

  • Context: Graduate 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Marie120
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Logic
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a question related to symbolic logic, specifically concerning the inconsistency of a set of sentences in SD or SD+. Participants are exploring methods to demonstrate this inconsistency through logical reasoning and proof techniques.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant presents a set of sentences and asks for help in showing their inconsistency in SD or SD+.
  • Another participant suggests a method involving substitution and distribution to derive a conclusion that the argument is invalid.
  • A third participant challenges the assumptions made in the previous posts, emphasizing that assumptions do not need to be tautologies and providing a detailed step-by-step reasoning process to approach the problem.
  • A later reply expresses gratitude to the contributors and indicates an intention to revisit the solutions provided.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the methods or conclusions regarding the inconsistency of the sentences. Multiple approaches and interpretations are presented, indicating ongoing debate and exploration of the topic.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about specific terms like SP or SP+, which may affect the understanding of the rules being applied. There are also indications that not all steps in the reasoning are formally detailed, leaving some assumptions and logical connections unresolved.

Marie120
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Good evening. Would anybody in this room be able to help me with an SD+ question?
My question is as follows:
Show that the following set of sentences is inconsistent in SD or SD+:

{(~C v (E & P)) (triple bar) B, ~E > ~C, ~(P & B) & ~(~P & ~B), B > C}
 
Last edited:
Mathematics news on Phys.org
Marie120 said:
Good evening. Would anybody in this room be able to help me with an SD+ question?
My question is as follows:
Show that the following set of sentences is inconsistent in SD or SD+:

{1.(~C v (E & P)) (triple bar) B, 2.~E > ~C, 3.~(P & B) & ~(~P & ~B), 4.B > C}

Don't know that this is quite what you're looking for, but consider this:

[~C v (E & P)] > C (by substituting for B in 4, from the equivalence given in 1)

[(~C v E) & (~C v P)] > C (By distribution)

That line right there is the same as the argument:

1. ~C v E
2. ~C v P
Therefore, C

which can pretty easily be shown to be invalid. It's a roundabout method, but it should work. I'll leave it to you to write a rigorous proof of this.
 
Loseyourname, you're only working with assumptions. Assumptions do not have to be tautologies. Like if I assume X -> Y, I am not claiming that X, therefore Y, is logically valid for every substitution of X and Y. Such a claim is false but the assumption X -> Y is certainly not inconsistent with itself.

Marie, I don't know about the terms SP or SP+, so if there are special rules I am unaware of then this reply may not be right. But I have worked it through like this:

(your premises)
1. (~C v (E & P)) <--> B
2. ~E --> ~C
3. ~(P & B) & ~(~P & ~B)
4. B --> C

5. B <--> ~P (line 3)
6. (~C v (E & P)) <--> ~P (lines 5, 1)
7. E & P --> ~P
8. ~P v ~(E & P)
9. ~P v ~E v ~P
10. ~P v ~E
11. ~C --> B (line 1)
12. ~C --> C (lines 4, 11)
13. C (line 12)

This is the main part. You can finish it from here. Of course, there may be a simpler way to do it than how I did it, and I didn't formally go into several steps, particularly 5, 7, and 13.
 
Thank you!

Hi

Sorry for my late reply, but I just wanted to say thank you to both Loseyourname and Bartholomew for taking the time to muse over my question. Though I don't have the time right now to apply your solutions to my problem, I definitely will soon.

Have a great New Year! :smile:
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 35 ·
2
Replies
35
Views
4K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
12K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
6K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
Replies
35
Views
7K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
Replies
6
Views
10K