Why does the empty set only semantically entail tautologies

logicpropositional-calculus

If a formula $P$ is a tautology then we can write $\emptyset \models P$, and it makes sense, since by definition a set of formulas semantically entail another if there does not exist a valuation where all members of the set are true and the other formula is false. Since the formula is a tautology and it's always true then it makes sense.

My question is then, why does it not make sense for the cases where it is not a tautology? For example, suppose we have a formula $P$ that is not a tautology, and our set is the empty set. Since the empty set doesn't have any premises then there does not exist any valuation where the premises are true and the conclusion false, thus $\emptyset \models P$, but apparently this is wrong and the empty set only semantically entail tautologies. Can someone help me understand why is my reasoning incorrect?

Please don't provide an alternative proof of why $\emptyset \models P$ iff $P$ is a tautology, instead explain exactly which line of my reasoning is wrong, I've already seen an alternative proof of why is that the case and the proof makes sense but it doesn't explain why I'm wrong.

Best Answer

The error is in “Since the empty set doesn't have any premises then there does not exist any valuation where the premises are true and the conclusion false”. In natural language, one might argue that “the premises” cannot be true if there are no premises, but here the required proposition is that all premises are true, and if there are no premises, then by definition all premises are true (and all premises are false). All elements of the empty set are white ravens.

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