RULES OF INFERENCE

INDEX
■ Rules of Inference
 Rules of Inference
• Mathematical logic is often used for logical proofs.
Proofs are valid arguments that determine the truth
values of mathematical statements.
• An argument is a sequence of statements. The last
statement is the conclusion and all its preceding
statements are called premises (or hypothesis).
• The symbol “∴”, (read therefore) is placed before the
conclusion.
• A valid argument is one where the conclusion follows
from the truth values of the premises.
• Rules of Inference provide the templates or guidelines
for constructing valid arguments from the statements
that we already have.
 Important Definitions
1. Premise –Like most proofs, logic proofs usually
begin with premises, statements that you're allowed
to assume.
2. Conclusion - The conclusion is the statement that
you need to prove.
3. Argument – A sequence of statements, premises,
that end with a conclusion.
4. Validity – A deductive argument is said to be valid if
and only if it takes a form that makes it impossible
for the premises to be true and the conclusion
nevertheless to be false.
Rules of Inference
•If we have an implication tautology that we'd like to use to
prove a conclusion, we can write the rule like this:
p→q
p

q
∴

•This corresponds to the tautology ((p→q)∧p)→q.

•The ∴ symbol is therefore.
•The first two lines are premises.
•The last is the conclusion.
•This inference rule is called modus ponens (or the law
of detachment).
Table of Rules of Inference
Let’s look at an example for each of these rules to help us
make sense of things.
Let p be “It is raining,” and q be “I will make tea,” and r
be “I will read a book.”
 Assignment
1.