symbolic logic
symbolic logic
symbolic logic
symbol′ic log′ic
n.
| Noun | 1. |  symbolic logic - any logical system that abstracts the form of statements away from their content in order to establish abstract criteria of consistency and validity |
| 单词 | symbolic logic | |||
| 释义 | symbolic logicsymbolic logicsymbolic logicsymbol′ic log′icn.
symbolic logicsymbolic logicormathematical logic,formalized system of deductive logic, employing abstract symbols for the various aspects of natural language. Symbolic logic draws on the concepts and techniques of mathematics, notably setset,in mathematics, collection of entities, called elements of the set, that may be real objects or conceptual entities. Set theory not only is involved in many areas of mathematics but has important applications in other fields as well, e.g. ..... Click the link for more information. theory, and in turn has contributed to the development of the foundations of mathematics. Symbolic logic dates from the work of Augustus De Morgan and George Boole in the mid-19th cent. and was further developed by W. S. Jevons, C. S. Peirce, Ernst Schröder, Gottlob Frege, Giuseppe Peano, Bertrand Russell, A. N. Whitehead, David Hilbert, and others. Truth-functional AnalysisThe first part of symbolic logic is known as truth-functional analysis, the propositional calculus, or the sentential calculus; it deals with statements that can be assigned truth values (true or false). Combinations of these statements are called truth functions, and their truth values can be determined from the truth values of their components. The basic connectives in truth-functional analysis are usually negation, conjunction, and alternation. The negation of a statement is false if the original statement is true and true if the original statement is false; negation corresponds to "it is not the case that," or simply "not" in ordinary language. The conjunction of two statements is true only if both are true; it is false in all other instances. Conjunction corresponds to "and" in ordinary language. The alternation, or disjunction, of two statements is false only if both are false and is true in all other instances; alternation corresponds to the nonexclusive sense of "or" in ordinary language (Lat. vel), as opposed to the exclusive "either … or … but not both" (Lat. aut). Other connectives commonly used in truth-functional analysis are the conditional and the biconditional. The conditional, or implication, corresponds to "if … then" or "implies" in ordinary language, but only in a weak sense. The conditional is false only if the antecedent is true and the consequent is false; it is true in all other instances. This kind of implication, in which the connection between the antecedent and the consequent is merely formal, is known as material implication. The biconditional, or double implication, is the equivalence relation and is true only if the two statements have the same truth value, either true or false. In any truth function one may substitute an equivalent expression for all or any part of the function. The validity of arguments may be analyzed by assigning all possible combinations of truth values to the component statements; such an array of truth values is called a truth table. The Predicate CalculusThere are many valid argument forms, however, that cannot be analyzed by truth-functional methods, e.g., the classic syllogismsyllogism, Analysis of the Foundations of MathematicsSymbolic logic has been extended to a description and analysis of the foundations of mathematics, particularly number theory. Gödel also made (1931) the surprising discovery that number theory cannot be complete, i.e., that no matter what axioms are chosen as a basis for number theory, there will always be some true statements that cannot be deducted from them, although they can be proved within the larger context of symbolic logic. Since many branches of mathematics are ultimately based on number theory, this result has been interpreted by some as affirming that mathematics is an open, creative discipline whose possibilities cannot be delineated. The work of Gödel, Church, and others has led to the development of proof theory, or metamathematics, which deals with the nature of mathematics itself. BibliographySee D. Hilbert and W. Ackermann, Principles of Mathematical Logic (tr. of 2d ed. 1950); W. V. Quine, Mathematical Logic (1968) and Methods of Logic (3d ed. 1972). Symbolic Logica synonym for “mathematical logic.” In the words of P. S. Poretskii, mathematical logic is “logic in subject and mathematics in methodology.” According to A. Church, it is logic studied through the construction of formalized languages. The term “symbolic logic” draws attention to the special nature of the basic elements of the formalized languages used in the mathematical method of studying logic. These elements are not the words employed in everyday discourse, even if such words are used in some special meanings. Instead, the elements are symbols that are selected (or constructed from previously selected symbols) and interpreted in a definite way specific to the given logical situation. In general, this way has no relation to any “traditional” usage, understanding, or functions of the symbols in other contexts. symbolic logic[sim′bäl·ik ′läj·ik]symbolic logic(logic)See SYMLOG symbolic logic
Synonyms for symbolic logic
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