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07 - Rules of Inference

This document discusses rules of inference for proving mathematical statements. It covers: - Arguments are sequences of statements that use premises to derive a conclusion. An argument is valid if the premises logically imply the conclusion. - Rules of inference are basic tools for establishing the truth of statements through valid arguments. Common rules discussed include addition, simplification, hypothetical syllogism, and resolution. - Quantified statements can be inferred through rules like universal instantiation and generalization. Universal instantiation allows concluding a statement is true for a particular element, while universal generalization allows concluding a universal statement if it is true for all elements.

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61 views18 pages

07 - Rules of Inference

This document discusses rules of inference for proving mathematical statements. It covers: - Arguments are sequences of statements that use premises to derive a conclusion. An argument is valid if the premises logically imply the conclusion. - Rules of inference are basic tools for establishing the truth of statements through valid arguments. Common rules discussed include addition, simplification, hypothetical syllogism, and resolution. - Quantified statements can be inferred through rules like universal instantiation and generalization. Universal instantiation allows concluding a statement is true for a particular element, while universal generalization allows concluding a universal statement if it is true for all elements.

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bolihan647
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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DISCRETE STRUCTURES

Rules of Inference
Rules of Inference
 Proofs in mathematics are valid arguments that establish
the truth of mathematical statements.
 By an argument, we mean a sequence of statements that
end with a conclusion.
 By valid, we mean that the conclusion, or final statement
of the argument, must follow from the truth of the
preceding statements, or premises, of the argument. That
is, an argument is valid if and only if it is impossible for
all the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false.
 Rules of inference are our basic tools for establishing the
truth of statements.
Valid Arguments in Propositional
Logic
 “If
you have a current password, then
you can log onto the network.”
“You have a current password.”
Therefore,
“You can log onto the network.”
 An argument in propositional logic is a sequence of
propositions.
 All but the final proposition in the argument are called
premises and the final proposition is called the
conclusion.
 An argument is valid if the truth of all its premises
implies that the conclusion is true.
 From the definition of a valid argument form we see that
the argument form with premises p1, p2, . . . , pn and
conclusion q is valid,
when (p1 ∧ p2 ∧ · · · ∧ pn) → q is a tautology.
Rules of Inference for Propositional Logic
State which rule of inference is the basis of the following
argument:
“It is below freezing now.
Therefore, it is either below freezing or raining now.”
Solution: Let p be the proposition “It is below freezing
now”
and q the proposition “It is raining now.”
Then this argument is of the form
p
∴p∨q
This is an argument that uses the addition rule.
State which rule of inference is the basis of the
following argument: “It is below freezing and
raining now. Therefore, it is below freezing now.”
Solution: Let p be the proposition “It is below
freezing now,” and let q be the proposition “It is
raining now.” This argument is of the form
p∧q
∴p
This argument uses the simplification rule.
State which rule of inference is used in the argument:
If it rains today, then we will not have a barbecue today.
If we do not have a barbecue today, then we will have a barbecue
tomorrow.
Therefore, if it rains today, then we will have a barbecue tomorrow.
Solution: Let p be the proposition “It is raining today,” let q be the
proposition “We will not have a barbecue today,” and let r be the
proposition “We will have a barbecue tomorrow.”
Then this argument is of the form
p→q
q→r
∴p→r
Hence, this argument is a hypothetical syllogism.
Using Rules of Inference to Build
Arguments
Show that the premises “If you send me an e-mail
message, then I will finish writing the program,”
“If you do not send me an e-mail message, then I
will go to sleep early,”
and “If I go to sleep early, then I will wake up
feeling refreshed”
lead to the conclusion “If I do not finish writing
the program, then I will wake up feeling
refreshed.”
Let p be the proposition “You send me an e-mail
message,”
q the proposition “I will finish writing the program,”
r the proposition “I will go to sleep early,”
and s the proposition “I will wake up feeling
refreshed.”
Then the premises are p → q, ￢ p → r, and r → s.
The desired conclusion is ￢ q → s.
We need to give a valid argument with premises
p → q, ￢ p → r, and r → s and conclusion ￢ q → s.
Resolution
Use resolution to show that the hypotheses
“Jasmine is reading or it is not snowing”
and “It is snowing or Bart is playing
hockey” imply that “Jasmine is reading or
Bart is playing hockey.”

Show that the premises (p ∧ q) ∨ r and r →


s imply the conclusion p ∨ s.
Rules of Inference for Quantified
Statements
Rules of Inference for Quantified
Statements
Universal instantiation is the rule of inference
used to conclude that P(c) is true,
where c is a particular member of the domain,
given the premise ∀x P(x).
 Universal instantiation is used when we
conclude from the statement
 “All women are wise” that “Lisa is wise,”
where Lisa is a member of the domain of all
women.
 Universal generalization is the rule of
inference that states that ∀x P(x) is true,
given the premise that P(c) is true for all
elements c in the domain.
 Universal generalization is used when we
show that ∀x P(x) is true by taking an
arbitrary element c from the domain and
showing that P(c) is true.
Show that the premises “Everyone in this discrete
mathematics class has taken a course in computer
science” and “Marla is a student in this class” imply the
conclusion “Marla has taken a course in computer
science.”
Solution: Let D(x) denote “x is in this discrete
mathematics class,”
and let C(x) denote “x has taken a course in computer
science.”
Then the premises are ∀x(D(x) → C(x)) and D(Marla).
The conclusion is C(Marla).
Combining Rules of Inference for
Propositions and Quantified Statements
 Read Chapter 1, page 73- 84
 Practiceexercise questions
relevant to class activity.

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