Table of Contents

Modus Ponens

Also abbreviated MP or MPP, is one of the most elementary (valid) logical inferences. It is based on a conditional and the affirmation of its antecedent.

A → B   –   if A, then B.
A   –   A is true.
∴ B   –   therefore B [is true].

The following is an example of a valid Modus Ponens:

If it is raining, [then] the street will get wet.
It is raining,
Therefore: The street will get wet.

Name

The full name of this form is “Modus ponendo ponens”. Loosely, this could be translated as the “mode of inferring an affirmative [statement] by affirmation [another statement]”.

Other names

Fallacies

Although the MP is intuitively comprehensible for most people, it is not uncommon to make fallacious conclusions on it.

The following table contrasts the modus ponens with its most common errors:

See also

More information