Instructor:

Discrete Mathematics  Dr Ghulam Mustafa

Chapter 1: The Foundations: Logic and Proofs

Section 1.6 : Rules of Inference 
Argument 
• In mathematics, an argument is a sequence of
propositions (called premises) followed by a proposition
(called conclusion) 
• A valid argument is one that, if all its premises are true,
then the conclusion is true 
• Ex: “If you have a current password, then you can log
onto the network.” 
• “You have a current password.”
• ∴ “You can log onto the network.” 
Valid Argument Form 

• In the previous example, the argument belongs to the

following form: 
p → q 
p 
∴ q 
• Indeed, the above form is valid no matter what
propositions are substituted to the variables 
• This is called a valid argument form 
Valid Argument Form 

• By definition, if a valid argument form consists 

o premises: p1, p2, … , pk 
o conclusion: q 
then ( p1 ^ p2 ^ … ^ pk ) → q is a tautology 
• Ex: ( ( p → q ) ^ p ) → q is a tautology 
• Some simple valid argument forms, called rules of
inference, are derived and can be used to construct
complicated argument form 
Examples
Example
Fallacies
• Several common fallacies arise in incorrect arguments.
These fallacies resemble rules of inference, but are
based on contingencies rather than tautologies.
• Fallacy of affirming the conclusion
• The proposition ((p → q) ∧ q) → p is not a tautology,
because it is false when p is false and q is true.
• Fallacy of denying the hypothesis
• The proposition ((p → q)∧⌝ p) → ⌝ q is not a tautology,
because it is false when p is false and q is true.
Example
Example
 S.No Step Reason
.
1 ∀x(O(x) →(R(x) V S(x)) Premise 1
2 ¬R(x)^¬S(x) Premise 2
3 O(The) →(R(Tue)V S(Tue)) Uni Instantiation using
1
• O(x): “I took x off” 4 ¬(R(The) v S(Tue)) De Morgan Law from 2
• R(x):”it rains on x”
5 ¬O(Tue) Modus Tollens from 3
• S(x)=“it snows on x” and 4
• “If I take the day off, it either rains or snows”
6 O(Tue) v O (Tue) Premise 2
• ∀x(O(x) →(R(x) V S(x))
7 O(Thu) Disjunctive Syllogism
• ”I took Tuesday off or I took Thursday off” from (5) and (6)
• O(Tue)V O(Thu)
8 O(Thu) → (R(Thu) ∨ Universal Instantiation
• “It was sunny on tuesday” S(Thu)) from (1) using “Thu”
• ¬R(x)^¬S(x) 9 R(Thu) ∨ S(Thu) Modus Ponens from
• “It did not snow on Thursday” (7) and (8)
• ¬S(Thu) 10 ¬S(Thu) Premise 4
11 R(Thu) Disjunctive syllogism
from (9) and (10)