Mathematical Logic
In much formal work, authors use a definite description operator symbolized using . The operator is usually defined so as to reflect a Russellian analysis of descriptions (though other authors, especially in linguistics, use the operator with a Fregean semantics). Thus
- ,
means "the unique such that ", and
is stipulated to be equivalent to "There is exactly one and it has the property ":
Read more about this topic: Definite Description
Famous quotes containing the words mathematical and/or logic:
“It is by a mathematical point only that we are wise, as the sailor or the fugitive slave keeps the polestar in his eye; but that is sufficient guidance for all our life. We may not arrive at our port within a calculable period, but we would preserve the true course.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The American Constitution, one of the few modern political documents drawn up by men who were forced by the sternest circumstances to think out what they really had to face instead of chopping logic in a university classroom.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)