Chapter 7: Statement Logic: Truth Tables

7.1 Introduces a formal language for statement logic and explains how to translate English statements into that formal language. The formal language includes five basic logical operators: ~, E, v, Æ, and ´. This section also emphasizes common English variants ofthe following logical words (or phrases): "it is not the case that," "or," "and," "if-then," and "if and only if."

7.2 Supplies truth tables for the five logical operators: ~, E, v, Æ, and ´. Includes a discussion of the material conditional (i.e., the arrow) and its relation to English conditionals.

7.3 Explains how to use truth tables to demonstrate that an argument is valid (or that it is invalid).

7.4 Provides an abbreviated form of the truth table method to make that method easy to apply in a wide range of cases.

7.5 Shows how truth tables can be used to categorize statements as tautologies, contradictions, and contingent statements, and discusses some of the special logical properties of these kinds of statements. Also explains how to use truth tables to show that two statements are (or are not) logically equivalent.