Open Access
2010 Pure Second-Order Logic with Second-Order Identity
Alexander Paseau
Notre Dame J. Formal Logic 51(3): 351-360 (2010). DOI: 10.1215/00294527-2010-021
Abstract

Pure second-order logic is second-order logic without functional or first-order variables. In "Pure Second-Order Logic," Denyer shows that pure second-order logic is compact and that its notion of logical truth is decidable. However, his argument does not extend to pure second-order logic with second-order identity. We give a more general argument, based on elimination of quantifiers, which shows that any formula of pure second-order logic with second-order identity is equivalent to a member of a circumscribed class of formulas. As a corollary, pure second-order logic with second-order identity is compact, its notion of logical truth is decidable, and it satisfies a pure second-order analogue of model completeness. We end by mentioning an extension to nth-order pure logics.

References

1.

[1] Chang, C. C., and H. J. Keisler, Model Theory, 3d edition, vol. 73 of Studies in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics, North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam, 1990.  MR1059055 0697.03022[1] Chang, C. C., and H. J. Keisler, Model Theory, 3d edition, vol. 73 of Studies in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics, North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam, 1990.  MR1059055 0697.03022

2.

[2] Denyer, N., "Pure second-order logic", Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, vol. 33 (1992), pp. 220--24.  MR1167978 0760.03001 10.1305/ndjfl/1093636099 euclid.ndjfl/1093636099 [2] Denyer, N., "Pure second-order logic", Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, vol. 33 (1992), pp. 220--24.  MR1167978 0760.03001 10.1305/ndjfl/1093636099 euclid.ndjfl/1093636099
Copyright © 2010 University of Notre Dame
Alexander Paseau "Pure Second-Order Logic with Second-Order Identity," Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic 51(3), 351-360, (2010). https://doi.org/10.1215/00294527-2010-021
Published: 2010
Vol.51 • No. 3 • 2010
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