Module-4

PROPOSITIONAL LOGIC: TRUTH TABLE METHOD

Contents of this Chapter:

1. Propositional Logic: Symbols and Transition

2. Truth Function
3. Truth table Testing for the Validity of Propositions and Argument (
Direct and Indirect Method)

4.1 Introduction
Propositional logic, also known as sentential logic and statement logic, is the branch
of logic that studies ways of joining and/or modifying entire propositions, statements or
sentences to form more complicated propositions, statements or sentences, as well as the
logical relationships and properties that are derived from these methods of combining or
altering statements. In propositional logic, the simplest statements are considered as
indivisible units, and hence, propositional logic does not study those logical properties and
relations that depend upon parts of statements that are not themselves statements on their
own, such as the subject and predicate of a statement. The most thoroughly researched branch
of propositional logic is classical truth-functional propositional logic, which studies logical
operators and connectives that are used to produce complex statements whose truth-value
depends entirely on the truth-values of the simpler statements making them up, and in which
it is assumed that every statement is either true or false and not both. However, there are
other forms of propositional logic in which other truth-values are considered, or in which
there is consideration of connectives that are used to produce statements whose truth-values
depend not simply on the truth-values of the parts, but additional things such as their
necessity, possibility or relatedness to one another.

4.2 Propositional Logic

A statement can be defined as a declarative sentence, or part of a sentence, that is capable of

having a truth-value, such as being true or false. So, for example, the following are
statements:
 George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States.
 Paris is the capital of France.
 Everyone born on Monday has purple hair.
Sometimes, a statement can contain one or more other statements as parts. Consider for
example, the following statement:

 Either Ganymede is a moon of Jupiter or Ganymede is a moon of Saturn.

While the above compound sentence is itself a statement, because it is true, the two parts,
“Ganymede is a moon of Jupiter” and “Ganymede is a moon of Saturn”, are themselves
statements, because the first is true and the second is false.
The term proposition is sometimes used synonymously with statement. However, it is
sometimes used to name something abstract that two different statements with the same
meaning are both said to “express”. In this usage, the English sentence, “It is raining”, and
the French sentence “Il pleut”, would be considered to express the same proposition;
similarly, the two English sentences, “Callisto orbits Jupiter” and “Jupiter is orbited by
Callisto” would also be considered to express the same proposition.

4.2.1 Definition with an Example:

Propositional logic, also known as sentential logic, is that branch of logic that studies
ways of combining or altering statements or propositions to form more complicated
statements or propositions. Joining two simpler propositions with the word “and” is one
common way of combining statements. When two statements are joined together with “and”,
the complex statement formed by them is true if and only if both the component statements
are true. Because of this, an argument of the following form is logically valid:

Paris is the capital of France and Paris has a population of over two million.
Therefore, Paris has a population of over two million.

Propositional logic largely involves studying logical connectives such as the words “and” and “or”
and the rules determining the truth-values of the propositions they are used to join, as well as what
these rules mean for the validity of arguments, and such logical relationships between statements as
being consistent or inconsistent with one another, as well as logical properties of propositions, such as
being tautologically true, being contingent, and being self-contradictory.

4.2.2 Characteristics of Propositional Logic:

Propositional logic also studies way of modifying statements, such as the addition of
the word “not” that is used to change an affirmative statement into a negative statement.
Here, the fundamental logical principle involved is that if a given affirmative statement is
true, the negation of that statement is false, and if a given affirmative statement is false, the
negation of that statement is true.

What is distinctive about propositional logic as opposed to other (typically more complicated)
branches of logic is that propositional logic does not deal with logical relationships and
properties that involve the parts of a statement smaller than the simple statements making it
up. Therefore, propositional logic does not study those logical characteristics of the
propositions below in virtue of which they constitute a valid argument:
1. George W. Bush is a president of the United States.
2. George W. Bush is a son of a president of the United States.
3. Therefore, there is someone who is both a president of the United States and a son of
a president of the United States.
The recognition that the above argument is valid requires one to recognize that the subject in
the first premise is the same as the subject in the second premise. However, in propositional
logic, simple statements are considered as indivisible wholes, and those logical relationships
and properties that involve parts of statements such as their subjects and predicates are not
taken into consideration.
4.2.3 Logical Operators:

Propositional logic can be thought of as primarily the study of logical operators.

A logical operator is any word or phrase used either to modify one statement to make a
different statement, or join multiple statements together to form a more complicated
statement. In English, words such as “and”, “or”, “not”, “if … then…”, “because”, and
“necessarily”, are all operators.
A logical operator is said to be truth-functional if the truth-values (the truth or falsity,
etc.) of the statements it is used to construct always depend entirely on the truth or falsity of
the statements from which they are constructed. The English words “and”, “or” and “not” are
(at least arguably) truth-functional, because a compound statement joined together with the
word “and” is true if both the statements so joined are true, and false if either or both are
false, a compound statement joined together with the word “or” is true if at least one of the
joined statements is true, and false if both joined statements are false, and the negation of a
statement is true if and only if the statement negated is false.
Some logical operators are not truth-functional. One example of an operator in English that is
not truth-functional is the word “necessarily”. Whether a statement formed using this
operator is true or false does not depend entirely on the truth or falsity of the statement to
which the operator is applied. For example, both of the following statements are true:

 2 + 2 = 4.
 Someone is reading an article in a philosophy encyclopaedia.
However, let us now consider the corresponding statements modified with the operator
“necessarily”:

 Necessarily, 2 + 2 = 4.
 Necessarily, someone is reading an article in a philosophy encyclopaedia.
Here, the first example is true but the second example is false. Hence, the truth or falsity of a
statement using the operator “necessarily” does not depend entirely on the truth or falsity of
the statement modified.

4.2.4 Truth Functional Propositional Logic:

Truth-functional propositional logic is that branch of propositional logic that limits itself to
the study of truth-functional operators. Classical (or “bivalent”) truth-functional propositional logic is
that branch of truth-functional propositional logic that assumes that there are are only two possible
truth-values a statement (whether simple or complex) can have: (1) truth, and (2) falsity, and that
every statement is either true or false but not both.

4.3 Symbols and Transitions

Modern logicians look to the internal structure of propositions and arguments and to their
logical links. In modern logic, we use various symbols. Symbols represent constants and
variables. Constants are logical operators. Variables and constants in symbolic logic form the
basis of propositional calculus. Variables are symbols whose meaning varies. Whereas
constants are symbols whose meaning is constant. They are also known as sentential
connectives.
 Operators Symbols Name of Meaning of
Symbols Symbols

Negation ⁓ Curl not

Conjunction . Dot and

Disjunction ˅ Vee Either, or

Implication ⸧ Horse shoe If …then

Material ≡ Tripple Bar If and only

Equivalence if

4.4 Truth Function

4.4.1 Statements and Arguments:

An argument is a group of sentences where one sentence is claimed to follow from others,
which are regarded as supplying conclusive evidences for its truth. Every argument has a
structure; viz. premises and conclusion. Premises provide support to the conclusion.
Therefore premises can be regarded as evidences based on which conclusion is accepted. All
arguments involve the claim that their premises provide evidence for the truth of conclusions.

4.4.2 Truth and Validity

Truth and falsity are properties of propositions. Validity and invalidity are properties of
arguments. This leads to an important question; what is the relation between the validity or
invalidity of an argument and the truth or falsity of its premises and the conclusion?

4.4.3 Valid Argument with True proposition

Consider an example- 1;

All mammals have lungs – True

All bats are mammals - True
⸫ All bats have lungs - True

In this argument, the major premise, minor premise and conclusion are true. So this
argument is valid, because if the premises are true, then the conclusion must be true.

Consider an example- 2;

All mammals have wings – False

All trout are mammals - False
⸫ All trout have wings -False

In this argument, the major premise, minor premise and conclusion are false. So this
argument is valid, because if the premises are false, then the conclusion must be false.

These two examples of arguments show that valid arguments may or may not have true
conclusions. Therefore the validity of an argument does not guarantee the truth of its
conclusion. However, the truth of the conclusion does guarantee the validity.

4.4.4 Simple and Compound Statements

Statements

• A statement is a sentence that is either true or false. Statements are sentences

about facts. If a sentence expresses an opinion about something instead of a
verifiable fact about something, then it is not a statement. If a sentence is unclear
enough that it would be impossible to determine whether or not it is true, then it
is not a statement. If a sentences express commands or gives directions, it
is not a statement. Let's look at some examples to better understand which sentences
would be statements and which would not:
• John's hair is brown.
– This is a statement because it is either true or not true. Either John's hair is
brown and the sentence is true, or John's hair is not brown and the sentence is
false.
• I make a lot of money.
– This sentence is not a statement because it is unclear what I mean by "a lot."
How much money would be enough to be considered "a lot?" Because it is
unclear how much we mean by "a lot," it is impossible to determine when this
sentence would be true and when it would be false; therefore it
is not a statement.
• This sentence is false.

– This is not a statement because it is neither true nor false; it is a paradox. If

this sentence is true, then it literally means that "this sentence is false", which
is a contradiction. If this sentence is false, then it means that "it is false that
this sentence is false", or in other words, that the sentence is true, which is a
contradiction. So because this sentence seems to be neither true nor false or
both true and false at the same time, it is not a statement.

• x < 76

– This is a sentence, even though it is written using math symbols instead of

English words. We can tell that this is a sentence, because we can translate the
math symbols into words and write out this sentence as, "The variable x is less
than seventy-six."
 – This sentence is a statement because it asserts a fact about the variable x.
Either x is less than 76 and this statement is true, or x is not less than 76, in
which case this statement is false.

Simple and Compound Statements (Definition):

The examples of statements given above were all simple statements, which mean
that they are statements which cannot be broken down into simpler statements.

However, we can compound statements, which are statements that are composed of one or
more simple statements using some connecting words.

Compound Statements

For example, here are some compound statements:

1. It rains only if there are clouds in the sky.

2. My mother was not from Australia, but my grandmother was from Australia.
3. A number is divisible by 6 if and only if it is divisible by 2 and 3.
4. All cows eat grass, and grass only grows in areas with a temperate climate, so there
are no cows in areas with climates that are not temperate.
Trying to judge when these more complicated statements are true or false can be difficult,
because they have so many different parts to which we must pay attention. If we look
closely, we can see that each of these compound statements could be broken down into
several simple statements joined together by some special words:

1. It rains only if there are clouds in the sky.

This statement is composed of the statements "It rains" and "There are clouds in the
sky." The extra words which join these two statements together are the words "only
if."
2. My mother was not from Australia, but my grandmother was from Australia.
This statement is composed of the simple statements "My mother was from Australia"
and "My grandmother was from Australia." The first simple statement has been
modified by the use of the word "not" and the two simple statements have been joined
by the word "but"

3. A number is divisible by 6 if and only if it is divisible by 2 and 3.

This statement is composed of the simple statements "A number is divisible by 6," "A
number is divisible by 2," and "A number is divisible by 3." The extra words which
joint these statements together are the words "and" and "if and only if."
4. All cows eat grass, and grass only grows in areas with a temperate climate, so there
are no cows in areas with climates that are not temperate.
This statement is actually so complex that we will leave it for later; it is actually a
combination of 4 simple statements, joined by 6 different groups of words.
We will break down this statement in an example later in the lecture once we have learned a
bit more about how to translate statements into symbols which represent their structure. We
often represent statements with lowercase letters: for example, some of the most commonly
used letters in logic are the letters p, q, and r. (Note: In mathematics, a lowercase letter and an
uppercase letter are assumed to represent different things. So, for example, the variable p is
not the same as the variable P.) So, for example, the statement "It is raining" could be
represented by the letter p. This means that anytime I want to refer to the statement "It is
raining," I can instead just refer to the statement p, which is shorter.

4.4.5 Logical Forms of Compound Propositions

• How convert given statements into symbolic form:

1. If election is declared, then government cannot enact new bills.
• This is a compound statement.
• Connective words or logical operator is : if then
• Let us assume,
• Election is declared = p
• Government cannot enact new bills = q
• Symbolic form of the statement is ;
• If p then q.

2. The blind prisoner has a red hat or the blind prisoner has white hat.

• Logical operator = or

• The blind prisoner = B

• Red hat = R

• White hat = W

• Symbolic form:

• B-R or B-W

4.4.6. Truth- functional Statements: Conjunction, negation, disjunction, implication and

bi-conditional

A compound statement is one that has at least one simple statement as a component. Every
statement has a truth value, that is, every statement is true or false. The truth value of a truth-
functional compound proposition is determined by the truth values of its components and the
definitions of the logical operators involved. Any truth-functional compound proposition that
can be determined in this manner is called a “truth function.”

Logical Operators and their Functions

Operators Symbols Name of Meaning of

Symbols Symbols
 Negation ⁓ Curl / tilde not

Conjunction . Dot and

Disjunction ˅ Wedge Either, or

Implication ⸧ Horse shoe If …then

Material ≡ Tripple Bar If and only if

Equivalence

• Tilde is the symbol for negation. The word “not” and the phrase “it is not the case
that” are used to deny the statement that follows them (we refer to their use as
“negation”).
• Dot is the symbol for conjunction, which conjoins two distinct statements (called
“conjuncts”).
• Wedge: A disjunction is a compound statement that has two distinct statements
(called “disjuncts”) connected by the wedge symbol.
• Horseshoe: In ordinary language, the word “if” typically precedes the antecedent of
a conditional: “only if” typically precedes the consequent of a conditional. The
horseshoe symbol is used to translate a conditional statement.

• The biconditional is a compound statement made up of two conditionals: one

indicated by the word “if” and the other indicated by the phrase “only if.”

Examples for Symbolic logic,

I. The flower blossoms and fragrance comes out.

• The flower blossoms = p
• Fragrance comes out = q
• And = .
• Symbolically,
• p.q

II. The flower blossoms and fragrance does not come out.
• The flower blossoms = p
• Fragrance does not come out = ⁓q
• And = .
• Symbolically,
• p . ⁓q
4.4.7 Truth-table

Truth definitions for the logical operators are displayed as statement forms in a truth table. A
statement form is a pattern of statement variables and logical operators. A truth table is an
arrangement of truth values for a truth-functional compound proposition that displays for
every possible case how the truth value of the proposition is determined by the truth values of
its simple components. There are five truth functions. They are as follows;

1 Negation
2 Conjunction
3 Disjunction
4 Implication
5 Material Equivalence

Truth Table For Negation

• In symbolically negation is represented as ⁓ (curl)

• If considered the statement as an example;
• All humans are not mortal.
• From this single statement there are two values, True and False.
• This statement symbolised as ⁓ p
• So the truth table is;

P ⁓p

T F

F T

Truth Table for Conjunction

• Conjunction means „and‟ , it denoted as dot (.)

• Considered two statements p and q.
• Find out the possible sets of truth values.
• Example,
• Rome is the capital of Italy and Paris is the capital of France.

Examples for conjunction;

Rome is the capital of Italy and Paris is the capital of France.

T T
Rome is the capital of Italy and Paris is the capital of France.
T F
Rome is the capital of Italy and Paris is the capital of France.
F T
Rome is the capital of Italy and Paris is the capital of France.
F F

Truth table;

p q p.q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F

Truth table for Disjunction

• A person is sick and unemployed

T T
• A person is sick but employed.
T F
• A person is not sick and unemployed.
T T
• A person is neither sick nor employed
F F

Truth table;

p q pvq
T T T
T F T
F T T
 F F F

Truth table for Implication

• If prices go on rising , then we may migrate to some other country.

• Antecedent Part = If prices go on rising = p
• Consequent Part= we may migrate to some other country = q.
• So symbolically, p⸧q.

Truth table;

p q p⸧q

T T T

T F F

F T T

F F T

Truth table for Material Equivalence

• It asserts that the statements it connects have the same truth value.
• Material Equivalence is defined as two statements are materially equivalent when
they are both true or false.
• Symbol is „≡‟ triple bar.
• This logical relation is occasionally used.

Example;

• Consider the following statement,

• I go to the championship game if and only if I acquire a ticket.
C ≡ T
• This statement is symbolised as C≡T.
• Since the two statements C and T are materially equivalent, imply one another,
we may infer from their material equivalence that T is True if C is True and
also that T is True only if C is True and vice versa.
• Any two false statements also materially imply one another.

Truth table;
 p q p≡q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F T

4.5 Truth Table for Testing the validity of Propositions and Arguments
(Direct and Indirect Method)

Let‟s consider an example,

• Using the letters A,B,C and D to shorten the simple statements; „Kerala wins the
tourism award‟, „Haryana wins the tourism award‟, „Wayanad wins the ecotourism
award‟, „Kumarakom wins the ecotourism award‟.

4.5.1 How to Construct a Truth table?

• From the previous example, we know that there are 4 simple statements.
• These 4 statements are represented as 4 different variables like A, B, C and D
respectively.
• Each statement have two truth values, true or false.
• When we constructing truth table, first of all we must aware about how many
possibilities are constructing in a truth table for solving the given problem.
• Actually here have 4 variables and each variable has 2 values.
n
• So there is a formula, to find out the number possibilities, i.e 2
• 2n

• Here, 2 is the number of value of a statement (true and false; 2 values).

• „n‟ is the number of variables.

• From this problem;

• 24 , There are 16 possibilities.

4.5.2 Truth table for Testing Validity of Propositions

There are three types of Statement forms; Tautology, Contradiction and Contingent

1. A tautology is a formula which is "always true" --- that is, it is true for every
assignment of truth values to its simple components.
Truth table for Tautology;

• (p ⸧ q) ˅ (q ⸧ p)

P q p⸧q q⸧p (p ⸧ q)
˅ (q ⸧
p)

T T T T T
T F F T T
F T T F T
F F T T T

2. The opposite of a tautology is a contradiction, a formula which is "always false". In

other words, a contradiction is false for every assignment of truth values to its simple
components.

Truth table for Contradiction;

 p . ∼p

p ∼p p . ∼p

T F F

F T F

3. A statement that can be either true or false depending on the truth values of its
variables is called a contingency.

Truth table for contingency;

 (p ⸧q)⸧ (p.q )

p q p ⸧q p. q (p ⸧q)⸧ (p.q )
 T T T T T

T F F F T

F T T F F

F F T F F
4.5.3 Truth tables for Arguments- Testing for validity

An argument form

An argument form is any array of symbols that contains statements variables, such that
when statements are substitute for the statement variables the same statement being
substituted for every occurrence of the same statement variable throughout, the result is an
argument.

For instance,

pvq
⁓p
⸫q
Now let,

• U = the united nations will become more responsible.

• W= there will be third world war.
When we do appropriate substitutions, the result is

U˅W
⁓U
⸫W
This is an argument. It is a substitution instance of the above argument form. It has that
form (incidentally, note that this argument is a disjunctive syllogism). Thus, any
argument which results from the substitution of statements for the statement
variables of an argument form is said to have that form or to be a substitution
instance of that argument form.

But someone may argue that p v q is not the only form of which U v W is

⁓p
⸫q
A substitution instance, the same argument can be obtained by substituting the statements

U v W for „p‟

⁓U for „q‟

W for „r‟ in the argument form p.

 This is

⁓q

⸫r is true.

Nevertheless although, P is a form of U v W, it is not the specific form. On the other hand p v
q is the specific form. So we define the specific form of a

pvq
⁓p
⸫q
Given argument as that argument form from which the argument results by substituting a
different simple statement for each distinct statement variable.

Validity and invalidity of Argument forms

Earlier we had, noted that „validity‟ and „invalidity‟ are the properties of arguments. Now
we extend their application to even argument forms. Argument forms are either valid or
invalid. If the specific form of a given argument can be shown to have any substitution
instances with true premises and false conclusion, then the given argument is invalid. So,
a valid argument form is one that has no substitution instance with true premises
and false conclusion. But how to determine the validity or invalidity of an argument
form? To determine the validity or invalidity of an argument form, we must examine all
possible substitution instances of it to see if any of them have true premises and false
conclusion. We can obtain all possible substitution instances whose premises and
conclusions have different truth –values by considering all possible arrangements of truth
– values for the statements that are substituted for the distinct statement variables in the
argument form to be tested. Possible substitution instances can be set forth most
conveniently in a truth table.

Testing Argument validity using Truth Table (Direct Method)

An argument is valid, or invalid, we can now devise a method for testing the validity
of every truth-functional argument. To test an argument form, we examine all possible
substitution instances of it to see if any one of them has true premises and a false conclusion.
Any argument form has an infinite number of substitution instances, but we need not worry
about having to examine them one at a time. We are interested only in the truth or falsehood
of their premises and conclusions, so we need consider only the truth values involved.

The arguments that concern us here contain only simple statements and compound
statements that are built up out of simple statements using the curl and the truth-functional
connectives symbolized by the dot, wedge, and horseshoe. Hence we obtain all possible
substitution instances whose premises and conclusions have different truth values by
examining all possible different arrangements of truth values for the statements that can be
substituted for the different statement variables in the argument form to be tested.
 When an argument form contains just two different statement variables, p and q, all of its
substitution instances are the result of either substituting true statements for both p and q, or a
true statement for p and a false one for q, or a false one for p and a true one for q, or false
statements for both p and q. These different cases are assembled most conveniently in the
form of a truth table.

To decide the validity of the argument form

p⸧q
q
⸫p
From this argument, „p ⸧ q‟ is Major Premise, „q‟ is Minor Premise and „p‟ is Conclusion.
So we can represent like this;
p ⸧ q = H1
q = H2
⸫p=C

Now we can construct the following truth table:

q (H2) p⸧q (H1)

P (C)
T T T

T F F

F T T

F F F

From this truth table, if we consider each raws, the first and third raws are in contradiction.
Because, in first and third raw both the premises are TRUE, but the conclusions are different.
It is not possible, if the same conditions produce different results. So this Argument is invalid.
When we write its answer it represented as, “This Argument is invalid, because of the first
and third raw.”

4.5.4 Testing Argument validity using Truth Table (Indirect Method)

Indirect truth tables are a kind of short-cut way of determining validity/invalidity.

They are especially useful when there are a large number of components in an
argument. Recall that an argument is invalid if it is possible for it to have all true premises
and a false conclusion at the same time. Indirect truth tables work by trying to force the
argument into that situation. We will set up the argument assuming that the premises are all
true and the conclusion is false. Then we will work to see if that is indeed possible. In other
words, we will try to figure out what the truth values of the components would need to be to
make the argument have true premises and a false conclusion. If we cannot do this, if we
run up against a contradiction that we cannot get away from--then the argument is valid.
If we are able to assign truth values to the components such that it makes the argument
have all true premises and a false conclusion, then we have proven that the argument is
indeed invalid.

How to test validity of an argument using Indirect Truth table Method?

Let‟s consider an example,

A⸧B

C⸧D

BvC/⸫AvD

STEP 1

Try to find out the Variables from the given example and its record in a table.

A B C D

STEP 2

Try to represent each premises in the given argument as the extension of previous figure.

A B C D A⸧B C⸧D BvC AvD

STEP 3

Assign values to make the conclusion as false and all premises are true.

A B C D A⸧B C⸧D BvC AvD

F T F F T T T F

Here A v D is conclusion. If we try to make it as false, there only one possibility that is (F v
F = F). so the reference value of A and D are false. Secondly we try to make all other
premises are true from the given argument. So lets consider the first premise A ⸧ B. here A is
False (from the previous reference value). But we need to make the first premise is true. In
implication, there is two conditions are occurring falsity. (F ⸧F and F ⸧ T). which value
assigned to „B‟? if we consider the third and second premise, we can get the reference value
of B and C. in that sense the value of B is True and C is false. So from this truth table we can
understood, “this argument is invalid, because all the given premises are true and the
conclusion is false”.

4.6 Summary

In any ordinary language, a statement would never consist of a single word, but
would always at the very least consist of a noun or pronoun along with a verb. However,
because propositional logic does not consider smaller parts of statements, and treats simple
statements as indivisible wholes, the language Propositional Logic uses uppercase letters and
Lower case letters in place of complete statements. The logical signs are used in place of the
truth-functional operators, “and”, “or”, “if… then…”, “if and only if”, and “not”, respectively.