Definition:Conjunction

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Definition

Conjunction is a binary connective written symbolically as $p \land q$ whose behaviour is as follows:

$p \land q$

is defined as:

$p$ is true and $q$ is true.


This is called the conjunction of $p$ and $q$.

The statements $p$ and $q$ are known as the conjuncts.


$p \land q$ is voiced:

$p$ and $q$.


Boolean Interpretation

From the above, we see that the boolean interpretations for $\mathbf A \land \mathbf B$ under the model $\mathcal M$ are:

$\left({\mathbf A \land \mathbf B}\right)_{\mathcal M} = \begin{cases} T & : \mathbf A_{\mathcal M} = T \text{ and } \mathbf B_{\mathcal M} = T \\ F & : \text {otherwise} \end{cases}$


Generalized Notation

$\displaystyle \bigwedge_{i=1}^n \ p_i = p_1 \land p_2 \land \cdots \land p_{n-1} \land p_n$


Complement

The complement of $\land$ is the NAND operator.


Truth Function

The conjunction connective defines the truth function $f^\land$ as follows:

\(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle f^\land \left({F, F}\right)\) \(=\) \(\displaystyle F\) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \)                    
\(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle f^\land \left({F, T}\right)\) \(=\) \(\displaystyle F\) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \)                    
\(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle f^\land \left({T, F}\right)\) \(=\) \(\displaystyle F\) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \)                    
\(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle f^\land \left({T, T}\right)\) \(=\) \(\displaystyle T\) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \) \(\displaystyle \)                    


Truth Table

The truth table of $p \land q$ and its complement is as follows:

$\begin{array}{|cc||c|c|} \hline p & q & p \land q & p \uparrow q \\ \hline F & F & F & T \\ F & T & F & T \\ T & F & F & T \\ T & T & T & F \\ \hline \end{array}$


Semantics of the Conjunction

The conjunction is used to symbolise any statement in natural language such that two substatements are held to be true simultaneously.

Thus it is also used to symbolise the concept of but.

Thus it can be also interpreted as:

  • $p$ but $q$
  • $p$; however, $q$
  • $p$; on the other hand $q$
  • Not only $p$ but also $q$
  • Despite $p$, $q$


Notational Variants

Various symbols are encountered that denote the concept of conjunction:

Symbol Origin Known as
$p \land q$ wedge
$p\ \mathsf{AND} \ q$
$p \ . \ q$ Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead: Principia Mathematica (1910) dot
$p \ \And \ q$ Ampersand
$\operatorname K p q$ Łukasiewicz's Polish notation


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