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liar paradox – order relation
liar paradox
According to a legend found in many ancient sources (including a letter of St. Paul), there was a certain Cretan named Epimenides who proclaimed, “All Cretans are liars.” This statement involves a contradiction on its face, since if all Cretans are liars and Epimenides is a liar, then the statement must be false, that is, not all Cretans are liars.
 There are many versions of the liar paradox, and many puzzles based upon it. The simplest form is, “This statement is false,” a statement that’s true if it’s false and false if it’s true.
linear order
A set X is said to be a linear order if there is a relation “<” on its elements such that for all distinct x and y in X, either x < y or y < x, but not both. Sometimes also called a total order.
Cf. partial order, dense linear order.
logic
In the broadest sense, the term “logic” refers to the reasoning processes or forms of argument people use to reach valid conclusions from one or more premises (assumptions). More specifically, any particular logic is a system of inference, by which one reasons from premises to conclusions, or by which one validates one’s conclusions. An incorrect inference, i.e., one which violates the rules of logic, is called a fallacy, and conclusions reached by means of a fallacy are called invalid. (By contrast, when the premises of an argument are false but the argument is formally valid, then the conclusion is called unsound.)
Ordinary logic falls into two broad types; deductive and inductive. Reasoning from general premises to a specific conclusion is deductive. For example, knowing that heavy clouds and a brisk breeze often signal an oncoming storm, one could conclude deductively that it might rain this afternoon. Reasoning from specific premises to a general conclusion, on the other hand, is inductive. For example, observing that every raven one sees is black, one might conclude inductively that all ravens are black. Deductive conclusions are necessarily true if the premises are true and the logic used formally valid (free of fallacy). Inductive conclusions are never certain, but are only more or less reliable. In mathematics only deductive reasoning is used (but see the entry for mathematical induction).
Mathematicians use symbolic logic, that is, logic that can be reduced to a purely syntactical system which disregards the semantic content of any of the symbols in use. The two primary forms of symbolic logic are the propositional calculus and the predicate calculus. The latter augments the former with existential and universal quantifiers (permitting sentences that begin with “there exists ___ such that” and “for all ___”). When quantification is permitted only over elements of the universe of discourse, the logic is called “first-order.” When quantification over classes of objects and/or over predicates is permitted, it is called second-order logic.
Cf. axiom, fuzzy logic, equational logic, syllogism, Hempel's Ravens Paradox.
lower bound
A lower bound of an ordered set is an element which is less than or equal to every element in the set.
Cf. greatest lower bound.
l.u.b
Abbreviation for least upper bound.
Mahlo cardinal
A cardinal k is called Mahlo if it is inaccessible and {a < k:a is inaccessible} is stationary in k.
maximal filter
See filter.
measurable cardinal
If there exists a non-principal k-complete ultrafilter on a set of size k, then k is called a measurable cardinal.
meet
A binary operation whose value on two elements a and b of a lattice is the greatest lower bound of a and b, denoted a  b.
Cf. join.
meet-morphism
A function f on a lattice L is called a meet-morphism if for every a and b in L we have f(a b) = f(a) f(b). If f has an inverse that is also a meet-morphism, then f is called a meet-isomorphism. A meet-isomorphism from a lattice to itself is called a meet-automorphism.
Cf. meet, join-morphism.
monotone function
Also called monotonic function. See order-preserving function.
morphism
A function from one set to another is called a morphism if it preserves some designated structural properties or operations on the domain set. Typically, the word morphism is not used by itself, but in combination with a prefix that indicates whether it is injective, surjective, etc.
Cf. automorphism, epimorphism, homeomorphsim, homomorphism, isomorphism, monomorphsim.
natural number
An element of the set N = {1, 2, 3, ...} consisting of all the “counting numbers.” When the number 0 is included, this set is sometimes called the whole numbers. In set theory, the natural numbers (incuding 0) are identified with the set w of finite ordinals. The natural numbers are a well-founded linear order with no largest member, and are countably infinite.
Cf. Peano axioms, rational number, real number.
Related MiniText: Number -- What Is How Many?
negation
If j is a statement, sentence, or formula of logic, then the negation of j, denoted by  j, is that formula which is true whenever j is false, and false whenever j is true.
non-denumerable
Uncountable.
nowhere dense
Given a space X and a subset A of X, we say that A is nowhere dense if every open set of X contains an open subset that is disjoint from A. This is equivalent to saying that the complement of A is dense, or that A has empty interior.
ordered field
See field.
ordered pair
An ordered tuple (a,b), the first element of which is called the abscissa, and the second element the ordinate, and for which (a,b) = (b,a) if and only if a = b. Functions, graphs of functions, and binary relations are represented as sets of ordered pairs. In standard set theory, the ordered pair (a,b) is defined to be the set { {a}, {a,b} }.
Cf. flat pair.
ordered set
A set with an order relation defined on it.
Cf. partial order, total order.
order-preserving function
A function f is called order-preserving if it preserves the order of its domain elements, that is, if whenever x and y are elements of its domain such that x  y then f(x) f(y). Also called isotone or inctreasing. If f reverses the order of its domain elements, then it is called antitone or decreasing. In either case f is called monotone or monotonic. If whenever x < y we have f(x) < f(y), then f is called strictly increasing (resp. decreasing).
order relation
A relation R on a set S is an order relation exactly if it is reflexive, transitive and antisymmetric. Order relations are usually denoted by “ < ” or “ ”.
Cf. partial order, total order
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