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In mathematics, proof by contrapositive, or proof by contraposition, is a rule of inference used in proofs, where one infers a conditional statement from its contrapositive. [15] In other words, the conclusion "if A, then B" is inferred by constructing a proof of the claim "if not B, then not A" instead. More often than not, this approach is ...
Affirming the consequent. In propositional logic, affirming the consequent (also known as converse error, fallacy of the converse, or confusion of necessity and sufficiency) is a formal fallacy (or an invalid form of argument) that is committed when, in the context of an indicative conditional statement, it is stated that because the consequent ...
Modus tollens is a mixed hypothetical syllogism that takes the form of "If P, then Q. Not Q. Therefore, not P." It is an application of the general truth that if a statement is true, then so is its contrapositive. The form shows that inference from P implies Q to the negation of Q implies the negation of P is a valid argument.
Description. The simplest and most common form of mathematical induction infers that a statement involving a natural number n (that is, an integer n ≥ 0 or 1) holds for all values of n. The proof consists of two steps: The base case (or initial case): prove that the statement holds for 0, or 1. The induction step (or inductive step, or step ...
The Wason selection task (or four-card problem) is a logic puzzle devised by Peter Cathcart Wason in 1966. [1][2][3] It is one of the most famous tasks in the study of deductive reasoning. [4] An example of the puzzle is: You are shown a set of four cards placed on a table, each of which has a number on one side and a color on the other.
v. t. e. In logic and mathematics, the converse of a categorical or implicational statement is the result of reversing its two constituent statements. For the implication P → Q, the converse is Q → P. For the categorical proposition All S are P, the converse is All P are S. Either way, the truth of the converse is generally independent from ...
Propositional calculus. The propositional calculus[a] is a branch of logic. [1] It is also called (first-order) propositional logic, [2] statement logic, [1] sentential calculus, [3] sentential logic, [1] or sometimes zeroth-order logic. [4][5] It deals with propositions [1] (which can be true or false) [6] and relations between propositions ...
In logic, proof by contradiction is a form of proof that establishes the truth or the validity of a proposition by showing that assuming the proposition to be false leads to a contradiction. Although it is quite freely used in mathematical proofs, not every school of mathematical thought accepts this kind of nonconstructive proof as universally ...