Is This Expression a Tautology?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around determining whether the expression ((p → q) Ʌ (q → p) → (p Ʌ q) is a tautology, which falls under the subject area of propositional logic.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss creating a truth table to evaluate the expression, with some expressing confusion about how to complete the table. Others attempt to break down the expression into components to analyze its validity.

Discussion Status

Some participants have provided guidance on how to approach the problem by suggesting the use of a truth table and breaking down the expression. However, there is a lack of consensus on the understanding of the table's construction and the overall concept of tautology.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention feeling lost and find the problem tricky, indicating a potential gap in understanding the underlying principles of propositional logic and tautologies.

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Homework Statement



Determine if the following is a tautology:

((p → q) Ʌ (q → p) → (p Ʌ q)

I don´t know how to show this. Can somebody pls show me all the steps
 
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Make the following table:

p|q|p → q|q → p|(p → q) Ʌ (q → p)|p Ʌ q|((p → q) Ʌ (q → p) → (p Ʌ q)
T|T|
T|F|
F|T|
F|F|

Now finish this table, if the last column yields true for all possible values for p and q then ((p → q) Ʌ (q → p) → (p Ʌ q) is a tautology.
 
Cyosis said:
Make the following table:

p|q|p → q|q → p|(p → q) Ʌ (q → p)|p Ʌ q|((p → q) Ʌ (q → p) → (p Ʌ q)
T|T|
T|F|
F|T|
F|F|

Now finish this table, if the last column yields true for all possible values for p and q then ((p → q) Ʌ (q → p) → (p Ʌ q) is a tautology.

im sorry but I am lost. this is very tricky. i don't understand this table
 
I have basically chopped your original expression into chunks. Every column of the table has a term of the original expression in it and I have used | to separate the columns. The last column has the entire expression in it.

Lets finish the first row:
p and q are true so q->p is true and p->q thus (p → q) Ʌ (q → p) is true. On the other hand we have p Ʌ q which is true so now we have all components that we want. So we can conclude, since (p → q) Ʌ (q → p) is true and (p Ʌ q) is true, ((p → q) Ʌ (q → p) → (p Ʌ q) must be true.

Now try to work your way through the other values of initial p and q. Note that I put all possible combinations in the first two columns.
 

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