We need to understand the concept of logical equivalence to better understand the laws or propositional logic.
What is a Tautology and a Contradiction in Logic?
In logic, a tautology occurs when a compound proposition is always true, and a contradiction occurs when a compound proposition is always false.
In English, tautology is saying the same thing using different words.
Example of tautology and contradiction in logic
S ∨ ¬S is a tautology because the value is always true.
S ∧ ¬S is a contradiction because the value is always false.
What Are Logically Equivalent Compound Propositions?
When two compound propositions have the same value, they are considered logically equivalent. This symbol ≡ indicates that
Q ≡ Q is logically equivalent regardless of their inner statements’ value.
Example of logically equivalent compound propositionsR →¬R ≡¬R both sides are logically equivalentT →¬T ≡¬T assuming R = TrueT →¬F ≡¬T first negation evaluates to FalseT →¬F ≡¬F second negation evaluates to FalseF ≡¬F the logical proposition evaluates to false because the hypothesis is True while the conclusion is FalseF ≡¬F both statements are logically equivalent