[Math] Consistency of pure first order logic

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This is a proof from the book Lectures in Logic and Set Theory: Vol 1. But I cannot understand why this proof is valid.

This is a corollary of "all first order logic is sound" which I understand the proof.

There is another proof of the consistency of first order logic in another book An Introduction to Mathematical Logic and Type Theory: To Truth Through Proof… but it is too long and I forget most of the book so I lost the context…

Best Answer

See page 56 : Definition I.5.9 (Soundness). A theory $\Gamma$ is sound iff, for all $\mathcal A ∈ \text {Wff}$ $\Gamma \vdash \mathcal A$ implies $\Gamma \vDash \mathcal A$.

To say that a first order theory $\Gamma$ is sound (page 58) means that the theory $\Gamma$ does not prove false formulae.

Thus (by contraposition): if $\Gamma \nvDash \varphi$, then $\Gamma \nvdash \varphi$.

But $\nvDash \lnot x=x$: the formula $x \ne x$ is clearly not valid. And thus, by soundness, the calculus cannot prove it, i.e. $\nvdash \lnot x=x$ (because every theorem of the calculus is also a provable in a theory $\Gamma$ whatever).

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