In logic, a logical constant of a language

\mathcal

is a symbol that has the same semantic value under every interpretation of

\mathcal

. Two important types of logical constants are

logical connective In logic, a logical connective (also called a logical operator, sentential connective, or sentential operator) is a logical constant. They can be used to connect logical formulas. For instance in the syntax of propositional logic, the binary ...

s and quantifiers. The

equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elite ...

predicate (usually written '=') is also treated as a logical constant in many

systems of logic A formal system is an abstract structure used for inferring theorems from axioms according to a set of rules. These rules, which are used for carrying out the inference of theorems from axioms, are the logical calculus of the formal system. A for ...

. One of the fundamental questions in the

philosophy of logic Philosophy of logic is the area of philosophy that studies the scope and nature of logic. It investigates the philosophical problems raised by logic, such as the presuppositions often implicitly at work in theories of logic and in their applicati ...

is "What is a logical constant?"; that is, what special feature of certain constants makes them ''logical'' in nature? Some symbols that are commonly treated as logical constants are: Many of these logical constants are sometimes denoted by alternate symbols (''e.g.'', the use of the symbol "&" rather than "∧" to denote the

logical and In logic, mathematics and linguistics, And (\wedge) is the truth-functional operator of logical conjunction; the ''and'' of a set of operands is true if and only if ''all'' of its operands are true. The logical connective that represents th ...

). Defining logical constants is a major part of the work of

Gottlob Frege Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege (; ; 8 November 1848 – 26 July 1925) was a German philosopher, logician, and mathematician. He was a mathematics professor at the University of Jena, and is understood by many to be the father of analytic phi ...

and

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, a ...

. Russell returned to the subject of logical constants in the preface to the second edition (1937) of '' The Principles of Mathematics'' noting that logic becomes linguistic: "If we are to say anything definite about them, heymust be treated as part of the language, not as part of what the language speaks about."

(1937) Preface to ''The Principles of Mathematics'', pages ix to xi The text of this book uses relations R, their converses and complements as

primitive notion In mathematics, logic, philosophy, and formal systems, a primitive notion is a concept that is not defined in terms of previously-defined concepts. It is often motivated informally, usually by an appeal to intuition and everyday experience. In a ...

s, also taken as logical constants in the form aRb.

References

External links

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on logical constants
Philosophical logic Concepts in logic Syntax (logic) Logical truth Logic symbols {{logic-stub

See also

References

External links