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Famous quotations in first-order predicate logic
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A Panorama of Logic

Famous quotations in first-order predicate logic

Can you translate these famous sayings?

Joel David Hamkins's avatar
Joel David Hamkins
Apr 10, 2024
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Famous quotations in first-order predicate logic
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Enjoy this latest installment from A Panorama of Logic, an introduction to topics in logic for philosophers, mathematicians, and computer scientists.

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With tongue in cheek, let me tell you that historians everywhere are shocked by the recent discovery that many or even most of our greatest thinkers and poets had first expressed their thoughts and ideas in the language of first-order predicate logic, rather than in natural language. As illustrated below, virtually all of our cultural leaders have first expressed themselves in the language of first-order predicate logic, before having been compromised by translations into the vernacular.

Can you identify the common translations of each of these famous quotations? I have provided a photo or drawing in each case as a hint. Please post your answers in the comments.

\( Ci → ∃x\ (x = i) \)

\(( ∀x∀y\ x = y ) ∧ ∃x∃y ( [\![x = x]\!]>[\![y = y]\!] ) \)

\( [∃x \ (x = i )] ∨ ¬[∃x\ (x = i )] \)

\( ¬¬\left( \strut Hy ∧ Dy\right ) \)

\( ∀m ( a ≼ m ) \)

\( ∀e\,∀h\ ( Ge ∧ Ee ∧ Hh → ¬Lieh ) \)

There are many more. Post your solutions in the comments.

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