Selected slides from lectures: Reasoning 1 For the rest of the material in the lectures, please refer to the

textbook Living with Mathematics, McGraw-Hill.

The art of reasoning consists in getting hold of the subject at the right end, seizing on the few general ideas that illuminate the whole, and of persistently organizing all subsidiary facts around them. Nobody can be a good reasoner unless by constant practice he has realized the importance of getting hold of the big ideas and hanging on to them like grim death. - Alfred North Whitehead (1861 1947) Mathematician, logician, philosopher

There are statements for which we may not be able to determine its truth or falsehood.

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Life exists in outer space. All forms of cancer are curable. There is life after death. 21,000,000 + 1 is composite. Every even integer greater than 4 is a sum of two primes. (6) There are infinitely many primes of the form n2 + 1.

Example 1. If I say, I am lying, am I lying or am I not? If I am lying, then what I am saying is false and so I am not lying. But if I am not lying, then what I said must be true, and so I must be lying. (Huh?) We end up in a situation in which I am lying and also not lying a contradiction. The statement is a self-contradictory statement.

Example 5 (Russells Paradox) In a certain village there is a certain barber who shaves only those who do not shave themselves. Does the barber shave himself?

(Russells Paradox) If the barber does not shave himself, then he satisfies the condition to be shaved by that barber. So he should be shaved by that barber, who is himself. That is, the barber should shave himself ! If the barber shaves himself, then he does not meet the condition to be shaved by that barber. So he should not be shaved by that barber, who is himself. Therefore, he should not shave himself !

In mathematics, observation of patterns often culminates in universal statements. If they are not yet proven to be true, they are called conjectures. (1) Every even integer greater than 4 is a sum of two primes. Goldbachs Conjecture (2) Every equation of the form xn + yn = zn , where n is any integer greater than 2, has no solutions in positive integers x, y, z. Fermats Last Theorem (3) All differentiable functions are continuous. Fact (4) Every polynomial equation f(x) = 0, where f(x) is a polynomial of odd degree, has a real solution.

Syllogism
This is the first and most commonly encountered logical rule in daily life. All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore Socrates is mortal. A syllogism begins with a universal statement and ends with a particular statement. If the first and second statements are true, then the conclusion is true. If the first statement is false, then the conclusion may or may not be true.

An argument involving a syllogism will be considered as valid only if the first and second statements of the syllogism are true. If any one of the first and second statements of a syllogism is false, then the argument is considered to be invalid.

Example 7. Comment on the following syllogism. All birds can fly. The swallow is a bird. Therefore the swallow can fly. Is the first statement true? (Are you sure?) The second statement is true. (Im told its so.) The conclusion (final statement) is also true. (Ive seen swallows flying.) Is the argument valid?

Example 8. What about the following syllogism? All birds can fly. The ostrich is a bird. Therefore the ostrich can fly. Is the first statement is true? The second statement is true. (The biologist says so.) The last statement is false. (Nobody has seen a flying ostrich!) So can the first statement be true? No, it cannot be. The argument is not valid.

Exercise 1. Is the following argument a syllogism? Some cars rattle. His car is some car. Therefore his car rattles. Solution
The word some in the second statement is an indefinite adjective and does not indicate that his car belongs to the set of cars that rattle. The three statements do not adhere to the form of a syllogism. It is not a syllogism!

Exercise 2. On the two sides A, B of a card are written the following statements: Side A: Statement on side B is false. Side B: Statement on side A is true. What can you say about these two statements?

Side A Statement on side B is false.

Side B Statement on side A is true.

What about the following? Side A: Statement on side B is false. Side B: Statement on side A is false. What can you say about these two statements?

Side A Statement on side B is false.

Side B Statement on side A is false.

Yet another case. Side A: Statement on side B is true. Side B: Statement on side A is true. What can you say about these two statements?

Side A Statement on side B is true.

Side B Statement on side A is true.