• Jerin Jaison
    4
    The logical negation is used in symbolic logic to indicate that the truth value of the statement that follows is reversed. The symbol tilde (~) is used to indicate logical negation. A simple use of negation is as follows:
    If p represents the statement "John is a boy", then ~p represents the statement "It is not the case that John is a boy" or "John is not a boy".
    The Truth table given below shows the truth functionality of the propositions.
    Here's the Truth table for negation:
    p ~p
    T F
    F T

    This table is easy to understand. If p is true, its negation ~p is false. If p is false, then ~p is true.
    Example 1: p : John is a boy.
    ~p: It is not the case that John is a boy.
    If p is true, i.e., "John is a boy" is true, then ~p is false, i.e., "It is not the case that John is a boy" is false. In the same way, if p is false, i.e., "John is a boy" is false, then ~p is true, i.e., "It is not the case that John is a boy" is true.
    When we assign F (falsity) to the proposition p ("John is a boy"), we do not assert, however, that John is a girl. All that we do is stating that the proposition p is false. John being a girl is only one among many possibilities. It would also mean that John is a man or that John is a spiritual being who has no gender or that he is a transgender. All these are implied when we state that p, i.e., "John is a boy" is false. Nevertheless, all these possibilities are included in ~p. The set "John the non-boy"(~p) contains all the implications of the falsity of p. Therefore, no matter who John really is, if p(John is a boy) is false, then ~p(It is not the case that John is a boy) is necessarily true.
    The falsity(F) of p necessarily implies the truth(T) of ~p. *
    Let us now consider another proposition, Example 2:
    p: John has stopped taking medicine.
    ~p: It is not the case that John has stopped taking medicine.
    According to the truth table, if p is true, i.e., "John has stopped taking medicine" is true, then ~p is false, i.e., "It is not the case that John has stopped taking medicine" is false. In the same way, if p is false, i.e., "John has stopped taking medicine" is false, then ~p , i.e., "It is not the case that John has stopped taking medicine" must be true. But when we analyze it deeper we find that it is not so.
    When we assign falsity(F) to the proposition p(John has stopped taking medicine), we do not assert that John continues to take medicine. All that we do is stating that the proposition p is false. John continuing to take medicine is only one among many possibilities. And if one holds on to that possibility alone, falsity(F) of p would imply the truth(T) of ~p. However, 'F' of p can also mean that "John has stopped taking medicine" is false because he never started taking it. The falsity of p can be understood in this way that John cannot stop an action which he had not even started doing. Surely, this is an assumption. But F of p interpreted as John continues to take medicine is as well an assumption. And only when we hold on to the latter assumption, ~p (It is not the case that John has stopped taking medicine) is true.
    In this case, unlike the first example, p is false does not necessarily imply that ~p is true. In the first example, all the implications of F of p (John being a man, girl, spirit..) come under ~p(It is not the case that John is a boy). Whereas, in the second example, some (at least one) implication(s) of F of p lay outside the purview of ~p. The implication that John had not started taking medicine is beyond the range of ~p. Therefore, without a leap of assumption, one cannot conclude from the F of p that ~p has the truth function T.
    Hence, the falsity(F) of p does not necessarily imply the truth(T) of ~p.( ~p can also have the truth function F). And so, * has an exception which proves it to be false.
  • Terrapin Station
    13.8k
    if p(John is a boy) is false, then ~p(It is not the case that John is a boy) is necessarily true.Jerin Jaison

    ? Not sure why you're inserting modality all of a sudden but it's certainly not the case, unless you do more work in setting up a particular logical system that you're using, that if ~p then necessarily p (and it certainly isn't metaphysically the case either).

    Aside from that, the usual warnings about trying to parse formal logic into natural language semantics suffices.
  • MindForged
    731
    All that we do is stating that the proposition p is false. John being a girl is only one among many possibilitiesJerin Jaison

    I don't see where the problem is. There are many conditions whose truthhood which will entail negation of some statement. There are many ways for something to not be the case. Negation is just a flipper. If in any way the proposition fails to be true then it's false (in a bivalent logic).
  • Jerin Jaison
    4

    Thanks for the remark. I don't actually hold that 'if p then necessarily ~p'. raised this problem in my symbolic logic class when my professor stated that the truth of ~p necessarily follows from the falsity of p. And I disagreed and showed him an example(John has stopped taking medicine) where it does not happen.
    My doubt is this: Does the falsity of a statement(p) necessarily imply its opposite(~p) is true? (My professor says it does imply.)
  • MindForged
    731
    Does the falsity of a statement(p) necessarily imply its opposite(~p) is true? (My professor says it does imply.)Jerin Jaison

    Well, yes it does. In any logical system I'm aware of, a proposition P being false is always a way in which ~P is true, even if there are multiple truth values.
  • Terrapin Station
    13.8k
    Thanks for the remark. I don't actually hold that 'if p then necessarily ~p'. raised this problem in my symbolic logic class when my professor stated that the truth of ~p necessarily follows from the falsity of p. And I disagreed and showed him an example(John has stopped taking medicine) where it does not happen.
    My doubt is this: Does the falsity of a statement(p) necessarily imply its opposite(~p) is true? (My professor says it does imply.)
    Jerin Jaison

    If you're doing traditional formal logic and the logic in question is a bivalent, T or F system, then whatever is assigned to p, T or F, will be reversed for ~p, so F or T respectively, and vice versa. with no other option.

    I would avoid using the term "necessarily," because that suggests that we're instead doing modal logic.

    Your professor should also explain that it doesn't work to try to parse this in terms of natural language sentences, complete with natural language semantics. Formal logic is not the same thing as natural language. Natural language semantics come into play when we're doing informal logic, rather.
  • Jerin Jaison
    4

    Thanks! That really helped. Yeah, I've got to learn a lot more Logic.
  • MindForged
    731
    I would avoid using the term "necessarily," because that suggests that we're instead doing modal logic.Terrapin Station

    While I think it's certainly true that we have to be careful in throwing out modal language and respecting where certain semantics apply and do not, I think in this case using "necessarily" isn't actually undue. Logical consequence is defined modally, as it's the relationship between the premises and what necessarily follows from them. Quoting the SEP on logical consequence:

    "Contemporary analyses of the concept of consequence—of the follows from relation—take it to be both necessary and formal, with such answers often being explicated via proofs or models (or, in some cases, both)."
  • Heiko
    519
    My doubt is this: Does the falsity of a statement(p) necessarily imply its opposite(~p) is true? (My professor says it does imply.)Jerin Jaison

    Under which circumstances? E.g. the keywords open(and closed)-world-assumption, different modi of negations might be worth a look (for the sake of the argument).
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-monotonic_logic
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negation_as_failure
    In your example: The statement ~p might be interpreted as "We do not know for sure that p applies." This would leave open the factual possibility of p.
    In classical logic, i.e. assumption of perfect knowledge and a closed world, ~~p <=> p holds.
    For the sake of the argument, in a discussion with your professor, you can always say that any educated, reflecting being would - of course - assume incomplete, uncertain knowledge about the world. :)
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