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I'm trying to understand this proof in Shawn Hedman's book, "A First Course in Logic":

Proposition 1.19: For any formulas F and G, G is a consequence of F if and only if F → G is a tautology.

Proof: We show that $F → G is not a tautology if and only if G is not a consequence of F. By the definition of “tautology,” F → G is not a tautology if and only if there exists an assignment A such that A ⊨ ¬(F → G). By the definition of “→,” A ⊨ ¬(F → G) if and only if A ⊨ ¬(¬F ∨ G). By the semantics of propositional logic, A |= ¬(¬F ∨ G) if and only if both A ⊨ F and A ⊨ ¬G.

Finally, by the definition of “consequence,” there exists an assignment A such that A ⊨ F and A ⊨ ¬G if and only if G is not a consequence of F.

I was able to follow the proof until the last sentence. By definition, A ⊨ F and A ⊨ ¬G would mean that F ⊨ ¬G, right? Is this the same as "G is not a consequence of F"?

toraritte
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1 Answers1

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It's important to distinguish types of object here; I'll use script for assignments and normal font for formulas.

You say (modulo notational tweaking) that

"by definition, $\mathscr{A}\models F$ and $\mathscr{A}\models\neg G$ would mean that $F\models\neg G$."

However, that's false: "$F\models\neg G$" is an extremely strong statement, namely that every assignment making $F$ true makes $G$ false. All we can conclude from seeing an $\mathscr{A}$ with $\mathscr{A}\models F$ and $\mathscr{A}\models\neg G$ is that some assignment making $F$ true makes $G$ false; this is the much weaker (unless $F$ has no satisfying assignments at all!) statement $F\not\models G$.

As to your question, "$G$ is not a consequence of $F$" means "$F\not\models G$" simply by definition. Basically, we can't conclude (from the little we've already seen) that $F\models\neg G$, but we can conclude $F\not\models G$, and that latter (generally weaker) claim is what we're trying to prove.

Noah Schweber
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  • Thanks also for clarifying the meaning of ⊨ in the different contexts (i.e., "models" vs. "consequence of"). (Still don't get the last sentence of the proof, but that wasn't the question so will open another thread for that when ready. Thanks again!) – toraritte Jun 04 '23 at 23:17