POST 3 LOGIC FOR BELIEVERS

Moonday, March 02, 2009
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LOGIC FOR BELIEVERS
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by jam_bin_javi

Let us examine the following STATEMENT (which upon INTERPRETATION may be characterized as a RELIGIOUS one) and ANALYZE it using the principles of SYMBOLIC LOGIC,

"IF YOU LOVE THIS LIFE, THEN YOU ARE NOT A TRUE BELIEVER."

Logicians would classify this as a compound CONDITIONAL or HYPOTHETICAL statement consisting of two component (sub-)statements, namely, the ANTECEDENT which follows the term "IF" and the CONSEQUENT which follows the term "THEN."

ANTECEDENT: "YOU LOVE THIS LIFE."
CONSEQUENT: "YOU ARE NOT A TRUE BELIEVER."

Symbolically, we can make the following representations:

L = "YOU LOVE THIS LIFE."
T = "YOU ARE A TRUE BELIEVER."

The DENIAL or NEGATION of the second statement is:

"IT IS NOT THE CASE THAT YOU ARE A TRUE BELIEVER."

This is symbolized by:

~T

From the logical viewpoint, the last statement is EXACTLY THE SAME AS or
IDENTICAL WITH [the logically proper word is EQUIVALENT TO/WITH]

"YOU ARE NOT A TRUE BELIEVER."

Thus, the original compound statement when symbolized becomes,

L [IMPLIES OR IMPLICATION SIGN] ~T

According to the RULE OF REPLACEMENT called MATERIAL IMPLICATION,

L IMPLICATION SIGN ~T IFF ~L V ~T

And by another RULE OF REPLACEMENT called DE MORGAN'S THEOREM,

~L V ~T IFF ~(L AND T)

Thus, our original statement can be expressed symbolically in another form,

~(L AND T)

When translated into English, this is read as,

"IT IS NOT THE CASE THAT YOU LOVE THIS LIFE AND YOU ARE A TRUE BELIEVER."

Or equivalently,

"YOU CANNOT BOTH LOVE THIS LIFE AND BE A TRUE BELIEVER."

Here, we have two cases each of which completely excludes the other. This is the essential meaning or content of the original conditional statement: that one case totally excludes the other. They cannot both be true at the same time. Note also that in the original conditional statement, we are NOT ASSERTING that "YOU LOVE THIS LIFE."

Moreover, it is extremely important to note that the denial or negation of the statement,

"YOU LOVE THIS LIFE."

is NOT,

"YOU HATE THIS LIFE."

but rather,

"YOU DO NOT LOVE THIS LIFE."

And that "YOU DO NOT LOVE THIS LIFE." is NOT EQUIVALENT to "YOU HATE THIS LIFE." To claim that these two are equivalent is illogical or bad reasoning.

IF YOU HATE THIS LIFE, THEN YOU DO NOT LOVE THIS LIFE.
[TRUE (On INTERPRETATION)]
IF YOU DO NOT LOVE THIS LIFE, THEN YOU HATE THIS LIFE.
[NOT QUITE. What if you couldn't care less or you are detached or simply disinterested? "Apathetic" is a LOADED word...]

In symbolic logic, the statements,
"YOU DO NOT LOVE THIS LIFE." and "YOU HATE THIS LIFE." would be symbolized or represented differently. The analysis of the underlying MEANINGS of the component terms and the actual DETERMINATION of the TRUTH-VALUES of these statements lie outside the purview or scope of logic.

Lastly, our original statement has its equivalent TRANSPOSITION form,

"IF YOU ARE A TRUE BELIEVER, THEN YOU DO NOT LOVE THIS LIFE."

From the logical viewpoint, this is the same statement as the original.

(S)Written in 2006 ["another CONSPIRATORIAL pasiklab" the original states...]
MODIFIED/ABRIDGED BY THE AUTHOR to suit this AL-MANTIQ BLOG which is intended for everyone...
POSTED March 02, 2009

(S) = STOLEN FROM Jamaal bin Javier

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