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A1 - The syntax of logical form

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2011

Robert Kowalski
Affiliation:
Imperial College London
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Summary

The language of Computational Logic used in this book is an informal and simplified form of Symbolic Logic. Until now, it has also been somewhat vague and imprecise. This additional chapter is intended to specify the language more precisely. It does not affect the mainstream of the book, and the reader can either leave it out altogether, or come back to it later.

In all varieties of logic, the basic building block is the atomic formula or atom for short. In the same way that an atom in physics can be viewed as a collection of electrons held together by a nucleus, atoms in logic are collections of terms, like “train”, “ driver” and “station”, held together by predicate symbols, like “in” or “stop”. Predicate symbols are like verbs in English, and terms are like nouns or noun phrases.

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Computational Logic and Human Thinking
How to Be Artificially Intelligent
, pp. 231 - 246
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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  • The syntax of logical form
  • Robert Kowalski, Imperial College London
  • Book: Computational Logic and Human Thinking
  • Online publication: 07 September 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511984747.022
Available formats
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  • The syntax of logical form
  • Robert Kowalski, Imperial College London
  • Book: Computational Logic and Human Thinking
  • Online publication: 07 September 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511984747.022
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The syntax of logical form
  • Robert Kowalski, Imperial College London
  • Book: Computational Logic and Human Thinking
  • Online publication: 07 September 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511984747.022
Available formats
×