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Disjunction elimination

 
Philosophy Dictionary: disjunction elimination

The rule permitting one to infer from ‘either A or B; if A then C, if B then C; so C.

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Wikipedia: Disjunction elimination
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In propositional logic disjunction elimination is the inference that, if "A or B" is true, and A entails C, and B entails C, then we may justifiably infer C. The reasoning is simple: since at least one of the statements A and B is true, and since either of them would be sufficient to entail C, C is certainly true.

For example:

It is true that either I'm inside or I'm outside. It is also true that if I'm inside, I have my wallet on me. It's also true that if I'm outside, I have my wallet on me. Given these three premises, it follows that I have my wallet on me.

Formally:

 ( A \or B )
 ( A → C )
 ( B → C )
 \vdash C

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Philosophy Dictionary. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Copyright © 1994, 1996, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Disjunction elimination" Read more