#MinimalNegationOperators

2026-02-03

Differential Logic • Overview
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2026/02

A reader once told me “venn diagrams are obsolete” and of course we all know how unwieldy they become as our universes of discourse expand beyond four or five dimensions. Indeed, one of the first lessons I learned when I set about implementing Peirce’s graphs and Spencer Brown’s forms on the computer is that 2‑dimensional representations of logic quickly become death traps on numerous conceptual and computational counts.

Still, venn diagrams do us good service at the outset in visualizing the relationships among extensional, functional, and intensional aspects of logic. A facility with those connections is critical to the computational applications and statistical generalizations of propositional logic commonly used in mathematical and empirical practice.

All things considered, then, it is useful to make the links between various styles of imagery in logical representation as visible as possible. The first few steps in that direction are set out in the sketch of Differential Logic to follow.

Resources —

Logic Syllabus
inquiryintoinquiry.com/logic-s

Survey of Differential Logic
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2025/05

Survey of Animated Logical Graphs
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2025/05

#Peirce #Logic #Mathematics #LogicalGraphs #DifferentialLogic #DynamicSystems
#Inquiry #PropositionalCalculus #BooleanFunctions #BooleanDifferenceCalculus
#EquationalInference #MinimalNegationOperators #CalculusOfLogicalDifferences

2024-12-09

Differential Propositional Calculus • 10

Special Classes of Propositions (cont.)

Let’s pause at this point and get a better sense of how our special classes of propositions are structured and how they relate to propositions in general.  We can do this by recruiting our visual imaginations and drawing up a sufficient budget of venn diagrams for each family of propositions.  The case for 3 variables is exemplary enough for a start.

Linear Propositions

The linear propositions, may be written as sums:

One thing to keep in mind about these sums is that the values in are added “modulo 2”, that is, in such a way that

In a universe of discourse based on three boolean variables, the linear propositions take the shapes shown in Figure 8.


At the top is the venn diagram for the linear proposition of rank 3, which may be expressed by any one of the following three forms.

Next are the venn diagrams for the three linear propositions of rank 2, which may be expressed by the following three forms, respectively.

Next are the three linear propositions of rank 1, which are none other than the three basic propositions,

At the bottom is the linear proposition of rank 0, the everywhere false proposition or the constant function, which may be expressed by the form or by a simple

Resources

cc: Academia.eduCyberneticsStructural ModelingSystems Science
cc: Conceptual GraphsLaws of FormMathstodonResearch Gate

#Amphecks #Animata #BooleanAlgebra #BooleanFunctions #CSPeirce #CactusGraphs #CategoryTheory #Change #Cybernetics #DifferentialAnalyticTuringAutomata #DifferentialCalculus #DifferentialLogic #DiscreteDynamics #EquationalInference #FunctionalLogic #GraphTheory #Hologrammautomaton #IndicatorFunctions #InquiryDrivenSystems #Leibniz #Logic #LogicalGraphs #Mathematics #MinimalNegationOperators #PropositionalCalculus #Time #Topology #Visualization

2024-05-22

Transformations of Logical Graphs • Discussion 1
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/05

Re: Laws of Form
groups.io/g/lawsofform/topic/t

Mauro Bertani
groups.io/g/lawsofform/message

Dear Mauro,

The couple of pages linked below give the clearest and quickest introduction I've been able to manage so far when it comes to the elements of logical graphs, at least, in the way I've come to understand them. The first page gives a lot of detail by way of motivation and computational implementation, so you could easily put that off till you feel a need for it. The second page lays out the precise axioms or initials I use — the first algebraic axiom varies a bit from Spencer Brown for a better fit with C.S. Peirce — and also shows the parallels between the dual interpretations.

Logical Graphs • First Impressions
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/08

Logical Graphs • Formal Development
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/09

Additional Resources —

Logic Syllabus
inquiryintoinquiry.com/logic-s

Survey of Animated Logical Graphs
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/03

Survey of Semiotics, Semiosis, Sign Relations
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/01

#Peirce #Logic #LogicalGraphs #EntitativeGraphs #ExistentialGraphs
#SpencerBrown #LawsOfForm #BooleanFunctions #PropositionalCalculus
#CactusSyntax #MinimalNegationOperators #MathematicalDuality #Form

2024-05-05

Mathematical Duality in Logical Graphs • Discussion 2.2
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/05

What you say about deriving arithmetic, algebra, group theory, and all the rest from the calculus of indications may well be true, but it remains to be shown if so, and that's aways down the road from here.

Resources —

Logic Syllabus
inquiryintoinquiry.com/logic-s

Logical Graphs • First Impressions
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/08

Logical Graphs • Formal Development
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/09

#Peirce #Logic #LogicalGraphs #EntitativeGraphs #ExistentialGraphs
#SpencerBrown #LawsOfForm #BooleanFunctions #PropositionalCalculus
#CactusSyntax #MinimalNegationOperators #MathematicalDuality #Form

2024-05-04

Mathematical Duality in Logical Graphs • 1.2
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/05

It was in this context that Peirce's systems of logical graphs developed, issuing in dual interpretations of the same formal axioms which Peirce referred to as “entitative graphs” and “existential graphs”, respectively. He developed only the existential interpretation to any great extent, since the extension from propositional to relational calculus appeared more natural in that case, but whether there is any logical or mathematical reason for the symmetry to break at that point is a good question for further research.

Resources —

Duality Indicating Unity
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2013/01

C.S. Peirce • Logic of Number
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2012/09

C.S. Peirce • Syllabus • Selection 1
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2014/08

References —

• Peirce, C.S., [Logic of Number — Le Fevre] (MS 229), in Carolyn Eisele (ed., 1976), The New Elements of Mathematics by Charles S. Peirce, vol. 2, 592–595.

• Spencer Brown, G. (1969), Laws of Form, George Allen and Unwin, London, UK.

#Peirce #Logic #LogicalGraphs #EntitativeGraphs #ExistentialGraphs
#SpencerBrown #LawsOfForm #BooleanFunctions #PropositionalCalculus
#CactusSyntax #MinimalNegationOperators #MathematicalDuality #Form

2024-05-04

Mathematical Duality in Logical Graphs • 1.1
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/05

“All other sciences without exception depend upon the principles of mathematics; and mathematics borrows nothing from them but hints.”

— C.S. Peirce • “Logic of Number”

“A principal intention of this essay is to separate what are known as algebras of logic from the subject of logic, and to re‑align them with mathematics.”

— G. Spencer Brown • “Laws of Form”

The duality between entitative and existential interpretations of logical graphs tells us something important about the relation between logic and mathematics. It tells us the mathematical forms giving structure to reasoning are deeper and more abstract at once than their logical interpretations.

A formal duality points to a more encompassing unity, founding a calculus of forms whose expressions can be read in alternate ways by switching the meanings assigned to a pair of primitive terms. Spencer Brown's mathematical approach to “Laws of Form” and the whole of Peirce's work on the mathematics of logic shows both thinkers were deeply aware of this principle.

Peirce explored a variety of dualities in logic which he treated on analogy with the dualities in projective geometry. This gave rise to formal systems where the initial constants, and thus their geometric and graph‑theoretic representations, had no uniquely fixed meanings but could be given dual interpretations in logic.

#Peirce #Logic #LogicalGraphs #EntitativeGraphs #ExistentialGraphs
#SpencerBrown #LawsOfForm #BooleanFunctions #PropositionalCalculus
#CactusSyntax #MinimalNegationOperators #MathematicalDuality #Form

2024-04-08

Operator Variables in Logical Graphs • Discussion 1
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/04

Re: Operator Variables in Logical Graphs • 1
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/04

Re: Academia.edu • Stephen Duplantier
academia.edu/community/Lxn1Ww?

SD:
❝The best way for me to read Peirce is as if he was writing poetry. So if his algebra is poetry — I imagine him approving of the approach since he taught me abduction in the first place — there is room to wander. With this, I venture the idea that his “wide field” is a local algebraic geography far from the tended garden. There, where weeds and wild things grow and hybridize are the non‑dichotomic mathematics.❞

Stephen,

“Abdeuces Are Wild”, as they say, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon …

As far as my own guess, and a lot of my wandering in pursuit of it goes, I'd venture Peirce's field of vision opens up not so much from dichotomic to trichotomic domains of value as from dyadic to triadic relations, and all that with particular significance into the medium of reflection afforded by triadic sign relations.

Resources —

Logic Syllabus
inquiryintoinquiry.com/logic-s

Semeiotic
oeis.org/wiki/Semeiotic

Sign Relations
oeis.org/wiki/Sign_relation

Triadic Relations
oeis.org/wiki/Triadic_relation

#Peirce #Logic #LogicalGraphs #EntitativeGraphs #ExistentialGraphs
#SpencerBrown #LawsOfForm #BooleanFunctions #PropositionalCalculus
#CactusSyntax #MinimalNegationOperators #LogicalOperatorVariables

2024-04-08

Operator Variables in Logical Graphs • 1.2
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/04

Consider De Morgan's rules:

• ¬(A ∧ B) = ¬A ∨ ¬B

• ¬(A ∨ B) = ¬A ∧ ¬B

The common form exhibited by the two rules could be captured in a single formula by taking “o₁” and “o₂” as variable names ranging over a family of logical operators, then asking what substitutions for o₁ and o₂ would satisfy the following equation.

• ¬(A o₁ B) = ¬A o₂ ¬B

We already know two solutions to this “operator equation”, namely, (o₁, o₂) = (∧, ∨) and (o₁, o₂) = (∨, ∧). Wouldn't it be just like Peirce to ask if there are others?

Having broached the subject of “logical operator variables”, I will leave it for now in the same way Peirce himself did:

❝I shall not further enlarge upon this matter at this point, although the conception mentioned opens a wide field; because it cannot be set in its proper light without overstepping the limits of dichotomic mathematics.❞ (Peirce, CP 4.306).

Further exploration of operator variables and operator invariants treads on grounds traditionally known as second intentional logic and “opens a wide field”, as Peirce says. For now, however, I will tend to that corner of the field where our garden variety logical graphs grow, observing the ways in which operative variations and operative themes naturally develop on those grounds.

#Peirce #Logic #LogicalGraphs #EntitativeGraphs #ExistentialGraphs
#SpencerBrown #LawsOfForm #BooleanFunctions #PropositionalCalculus
#CactusSyntax #MinimalNegationOperators #LogicalOperatorVariables

2024-04-06

Operator Variables in Logical Graphs • 1.1
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/04

In lieu of a field study requirement for my bachelor's degree I spent two years in various state and university libraries reading everything I could find by and about Peirce, poring most memorably through reels of microfilmed Peirce manuscripts Michigan State had at the time, all in trying to track down some hint of a clue to a puzzling passage in Peirce's “Simplest Mathematics”, most acutely coming to a head with that bizarre line of type at CP 4.306, which the editors of Peirce's “Collected Papers”, no doubt compromised by the typographer's reluctance to cut new symbols, transmogrified into a script more cryptic than even the manuscript's original hieroglyphic.

I found one key to the mystery in Peirce's use of “operator variables”, which he and his students Christine Ladd‑Franklin and O.H. Mitchell explored in depth. I will shortly discuss that theme as it affects logical graphs but it may be useful to give a shorter and sweeter explanation of how the basic idea typically arises in common logical practice.

#Peirce #Logic #LogicalGraphs #EntitativeGraphs #ExistentialGraphs
#SpencerBrown #LawsOfForm #BooleanFunctions #PropositionalCalculus
#CactusSyntax #MinimalNegationOperators #LogicalOperatorVariables

2024-02-26

Survey of Differential Logic • 7
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/02

This is a Survey of work in progress on Differential Logic, resources under development toward a more systematic treatment.

Differential logic is the component of logic whose object is the description of variation — the aspects of change, difference, distribution, and diversity — in universes of discourse subject to logical description. A definition as broad as that naturally incorporates any study of variation by way of mathematical models, but differential logic is especially charged with the qualitative aspects of variation pervading or preceding quantitative models. To the extent a logical inquiry makes use of a formal system, its differential component treats the use of a differential logical calculus — a formal system with the expressive capacity to describe change and diversity in logical universes of discourse.

Please follow the above link for the full set of resources.
Articles and blog series on the core ideas are linked below.

Differential Logic • The Logic of Change and Difference
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/08

Differential Propositional Calculus
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/11
oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Pro

Differential Logic
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2020/03
oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log

Differential Logic and Dynamic Systems
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/03
oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log

#Peirce #Logic #LogicalGraphs #DifferentialLogic #DynamicSystems
#BooleanFunctions #BooleanDifferenceCalculus #QualitativePhysics
#CactusCalculus #MinimalNegationOperators #NeuralNetworkSystems
#CalculusOfLogicalDifferences

2023-11-12

Survey of Differential Logic • 6
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/11

This is a Survey of work in progress on Differential Logic, resources under development toward a more systematic treatment.

Differential logic is the component of logic whose object is the description of variation — the aspects of change, difference, distribution, and diversity — in universes of discourse subject to logical description. A definition as broad as that naturally incorporates any study of variation by way of mathematical models, but differential logic is especially charged with the qualitative aspects of variation pervading or preceding quantitative models. To the extent a logical inquiry makes use of a formal system, its differential component treats the use of a differential logical calculus — a formal system with the expressive capacity to describe change and diversity in logical universes of discourse.

Please follow the above link for the full set of resources.
Articles and blog series on the core ideas are linked below.

Differential Logic • The Logic of Change and Difference
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/08

Differential Propositional Calculus
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/11

Differential Logic
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2020/03

Differential Logic and Dynamic Systems
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/03

cc: academia.edu/community/lQX66L

#Peirce #Logic #LogicalGraphs #DifferentialLogic #DynamicSystems
#BooleanFunctions #BooleanDifferenceCalculus #QualitativePhysics
#CactusCalculus #MinimalNegationOperators #NeuralNetworkSystems
#CalculusOfLogicalDifferences

2023-08-22

Differential Logic • The Logic of Change and Difference
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/08

Differential logic is the logic of variation — the logic of change and difference.

Differential logic is the component of logic whose object is the description of variation, for example, the aspects of change, difference, distribution, and diversity, in universes of discourse subject to qualitative logical description. In its formalization, differential logic treats the principles governing the use of a “differential logical calculus”, in other words, a formal system with the expressive capacity to describe change and diversity in logical universes of discourse.

A simple case of a differential logical calculus is furnished by a differential propositional calculus. This augments ordinary propositional calculus in the same way the differential calculus of Leibniz and Newton augments the analytic geometry of Descartes.

Resources —

Differential Logic
oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log
• Part 1 ( oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log )
• Part 2 ( oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log )
• Part 3 ( oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log )

Differential Propositional Calculus
oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Pro
• Part 1 ( oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Pro )
• Part 2 ( oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Pro )

Differential Logic and Dynamic Systems
oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log
• Part 1 ( oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log )
• Part 2 ( oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log )
• Part 3 ( oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log )
• Part 4 ( oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log )
• Part 5 ( oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log )

#Peirce #Logic #LogicalGraphs #DifferentialLogic #DiscreteDynamicalSystems
#Leibniz #BooleanFunctions #BooleanDifferenceCalculus #QualitativeDynamics
#DifferentialPropositions #MinimalNegationOperators #NeuralNetworkSystems

2023-04-25

Survey of Differential Logic • 5
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/04

This is a Survey of work in progress on Differential Logic, resources under development toward a more systematic treatment.

Differential logic is the component of logic whose object is the description of variation — the aspects of change, difference, distribution, and diversity — in universes of discourse subject to logical description. A definition as broad as that naturally incorporates any study of variation by way of mathematical models, but differential logic is especially charged with the qualitative aspects of variation pervading or preceding quantitative models. To the extent a logical inquiry makes use of a formal system, its differential component treats the use of a differential logical calculus — a formal system with the expressive capacity to describe change and diversity in logical universes of discourse.

Please follow the above link for the full set of resources.
Articles and blog series on the core ideas are linked below.

Differential Propositional Calculus
oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Pro
1 oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Pro
2 oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Pro
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2020/02

Differential Logic
oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log
1 oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log
2 oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log
3 oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2020/03

Differential Logic and Dynamic Systems
oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log
1 oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log
2 oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log
3 oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log
4 oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log
5 oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/03

#Peirce #Logic #LogicalGraphs #DifferentialLogic #DynamicSystems
#BooleanFunctions #BooleanDifferenceCalculus #QualitativePhysics
#CactusCalculus #MinimalNegationOperators #NeuralNetworkSystems

2023-03-05

Differential Logic and Dynamic Systems • Review and Transition 1
oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log

This note continues a previous discussion on the problem of dealing with change and diversity in logic-based intelligent systems. It is useful to begin by summarizing essential material from previous reports.

Table 1 outlines a notation for propositional calculus based on two types of logical connectives, both of variable \(k\)-ary scope.

• A bracketed list of propositional expressions in the form \(\texttt{(} e_1 \texttt{,} e_2 \texttt{,} \ldots \texttt{,} e_{k-1} \texttt{,} e_k \texttt{)}\) indicates that exactly one of the propositions \(e_1, e_2, \ldots, e_{k-1}, e_k\) is false.

• A concatenation of propositional expressions in the form \(e_1 ~ e_2 ~ \ldots ~ e_{k-1} ~ e_k\) indicates that all of the propositions \(e_1, e_2, \ldots, e_{k-1}, e_k\) are true, in other words, that their logical conjunction is true.

All other propositional connectives can be obtained in a very efficient style of representation through combinations of these two forms. Strictly speaking, the concatenation form is dispensable in light of the bracketed form but it is convenient to maintain it as an abbreviation of more complicated bracket expressions.

#Peirce #Logic #LogicalGraphs #DifferentialLogic #DynamicSystems
#BooleanFunctions #BooleanDifferenceCalculus #QualitativeChange
#MinimalNegationOperators #NeuralNetworkSystems #Semiotics

2023-02-22

Differential Logic and Dynamic Systems • Overview
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2023/03
oeis.org/wiki/Differential_Log

❝Stand and unfold yourself.❞
— Hamlet • Francisco • 1.1.2

In modeling intelligent systems, whether we are trying to understand a natural system or engineer an artificial system, there has long been a tension or trade-off between dynamic paradigms and symbolic paradigms. Dynamic models take their cue from physics, using quantitative measures and differential equations to model the evolution of a system’s state through time. Symbolic models use logical methods to describe systems and their agents in qualitative terms, deriving logical consequences of a system’s description or an agent’s state of information. Logic-based systems have tended to be static in character, largely because we have lacked a proper logical analogue of differential calculus. The work laid out in this report is intended to address that lack.

This article develops a differential extension of propositional calculus and applies it to the analysis of dynamic systems whose states are described in qualitative logical terms. The work pursued here is coordinated with a parallel application focusing on neural network systems but the dependencies are arranged to make the present article the main and the more self-contained work, to serve as a conceptual frame and a technical background for the network project.

#Peirce #Logic #LogicalGraphs #DifferentialLogic #DynamicSystems
#BooleanFunctions #BooleanDifferenceCalculus #QualitativeChange
#MinimalNegationOperators #NeuralNetworkSystems #Semiotics

2023-02-07

@xameer

Cf. #DifferentialLogic • Discussion 3
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2020/06

#Physics once had a #FrameProblem (#Complexity of #DynamicUpdating) long before #AI did but physics learned to reduce complexity through the use of #DifferentialEquations and #GroupSymmetries (combined in #LieGroups). One of the promising features of #MinimalNegationOperators is their relationship to #DifferentialOperators. So I’ve been looking into that. Here’s a link, a bit in medias res, but what I’ve got for now.

2023-02-04

@bblfish @hochstenbach @josd

Here's the skinny on #MinimalNegationOperators

mathstodon.xyz/@Inquiry/109806

Minimal negation operators are a family of logical operators or #BooleanFunctions \(\nu(),\ \nu(x),\ \nu(x,y),\ \nu(x,y,z),\) etc.

In the so-called #ExistentialInterpretation of the brand of #LogicalGraphs I'll be using, \(\nu(x_1, \ldots, x_k)\) says exactly one of the \(x_i\) is equal to \(0\), that is, false.

2023-02-01

@hochstenbach @josd

A program I worked on all through the 80s implemented a propositional modeler based on #Peirce's #LogicalGraphs, improving the efficiency of the Alpha level through the use of #MinimalNegationOperators. There's a collection of articles, blog posts, and group discussions about that linked on the following page.

#ThemeOneProgram#SurveyPage
inquiryintoinquiry.com/2022/06

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