Stack Exchange
open access
CC BY-SA
How is first-order logic complete but not decidable?
Why doesn't completeness imply decidability for first-order logic? First order logic is complete, which means (I think) given a set of sentences A and a sentence B, then either B or ~B can be arrived at through the rules of inference being applied to A. If B is arrived at, then A implies B in every interpretation. If ~B is arrived at, then A implies ~B in every interpretation. First order logic is undecidable, which means (again, I think) that given a set of sentences A and a sentence B, there is no procedure for determining whether A implies B (i.e. it's not the case that A are true and B is false) in all interpretations. Why doesn't this work: Enumerate all strings x. If x encodes the valid derivation of B from A, accept. If x encodes the valid derivation of ~B from A, reject. Because of completeness, eventually this process will stumble across an x which is either a proof of B or ~B from A. If B, then A implies B in all interpretations. If ~B, then it is not the case that A implies B in all interpretations. So FOL is decidable. But it's not, so I must have the wrong definition of either completeness or decidability.
Conceptio Open Archive
Analyze & explore related research in Conceptio
Connect this record directly into your research workflow or AI agent. Explore citations across open repositories, query full text, and export structured proof bundles.
This document is indexed with metadata only: full text is not available in the archive for this record. Open the official source ↗
Related documents
- Systematic construction of natural deduction systems for many-valued logics#733267
- A Counterexample to Modus Ponenses#750742
- The Recursive Actuation Mandate: Semiotic Closure of the G − I Cycle and Universal Underdetermination#81473
- From Linear to Branching-Time Temporal Logics: Transfer of Semantics and Definability#737207
- Modal logic with non-deterministic semantics: Part I—Propositional case#725893
Record · ID 787646
Retrieved via Conceptio: every document is proof-bundled with source, license, and retrieval metadata.
Retrieved via Conceptio: every document is proof-bundled with source, license, and retrieval metadata.
Bring this data into your agent: Connect via MCP or API · 20 free credits to start · no card required
Read the Docs → · View CLI source on GitHub · Conceptio Open Knowledge Archive
Read the Docs → · View CLI source on GitHub · Conceptio Open Knowledge Archive