George Boole wrote on “the laws of thought,” now known as Boolean Algebra, and started the discipline known as Symbolic Logic. A different George, George Spencer Brown, wrote on “the laws of form,” which presented an arithmetic system underlying logic. Below are two symbolic logics equivalent to Boolean algebra that resemble ordinary arithmetic in some respects. To resemble arithmetic in other respects, use the Galois field of order 2, GF(2). Zero is taken as representing false, and one as true.
LOGIC OF SUBTRACTION
Subtraction
A – 0 = 1 – A = 1
A – 1 = A
Definitions
– A is defined as 0 – A (and so 0 is ” “, ground, false)
A + B is defined as A – (– B)
Tables
| A | 0 − A | A − B | 0 | 1 | A + B | 0 | 1 | ||
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Consequences
– (– A) = A
A − B = A ← B
A + B = A ∨ B
A + B = B + A
– is not distributive
DIVISION LOGIC
0 / A = A / 1 = 0
A / 0 = A
Definitions
/ A is defined as 1 / A (and so 1 is ” “, ground, true)
A • B is defined as A / (1 / B)
Consequences
1 / (1 / A) = A
A / B = – (A → B)
A • B = A ∧ B
A • B = B • A
/ is not distributive
Tables
| A | 1 / A | A / B | 0 | 1 | A • B | 0 | 1 | ||
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |