An antecedent is the first half of a

hypothetical A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obser ...

proposition In logic and linguistics, a proposition is the meaning of a declarative sentence. In philosophy, " meaning" is understood to be a non-linguistic entity which is shared by all sentences with the same meaning. Equivalently, a proposition is the no ...

, whenever the if-clause precedes the then-clause. In some contexts the antecedent is called the ''protasis''. Examples: * If

P

, then

Q

. This is a nonlogical formulation of a hypothetical proposition. In this case, the antecedent is P, and the consequent is Q. In an implication, if

\phi

implies

\psi

then

\phi

is called the antecedent and

\psi

is called the consequent.Sets, Functions and Logic - An Introduction to Abstract Mathematics, Keith Devlin, Chapman & Hall/CRC Mathematics, 3rd ed., 2004 Antecedent and consequent are connected via

logical connective In logic, a logical connective (also called a logical operator, sentential connective, or sentential operator) is a logical constant. They can be used to connect logical formulas. For instance in the syntax of propositional logic, the binary ...

to form a

. * If

X

is a man, then

X

is mortal. "

X

is a man" is the antecedent for this proposition. * If men have walked on the moon, then I am the king of France. Here, "men have walked on the moon" is the antecedent. Let

y=x+1

. If

x=1

then

y=2

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antecedent (Logic) Conditionals

See also

References