modus ponens and modus tollens

modus ponens and modus tollens
(Latin: "method of affirming" and "method of denying") In logic, two types of inference that can be drawn using a hypothetical proposition
i.

e., from a proposition of the form "If p, then q" (symbolically p ⊃ q). Modus ponens refers to inferences of the form p ⊃ q; p, therefore q. Modus tollens refers to inferences of the form p ⊃ q; ¬q, therefore, ¬p. An example of modus tollens is the following: "If an angle is inscribed in a semicircle, then it is a right angle; this angle is not a right angle; therefore, this angle is not inscribed in a semicircle."

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logic
      (Latin: “method of affirming” and “method of de-nying”), in propositional logic, two types of inference that can be drawn from a hypothetical proposition—i.e., from a proposition of the form “If A, then B” (symbolically AB, in which ⊃ signifies “If . . . then”). Modus ponens refers to inferences of the form AB; A, therefore B. Modus tollens refers to inferences of the form AB; ∼B, therefore, ∼A (∼ signifies “not”). An example of modus tollens is the following:

      If an angle is inscribed in a semicircle, then it is a right angle; this angle is not a right angle; therefore, this angle is not inscribed in a semicircle.

      For disjunctive premises (employing ∨, which signifies “either . . . or”), the terms modus tollendo ponens and modus ponendo tollens are used for arguments of the forms AB;A, therefore B, and AB; A, therefore ∼B (valid only for exclusive disjunction: “Either A or B but not both”). The rule of modus ponens is incorporated into virtually every formal system of logic.

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Universalium. 2010.

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