Toward Conceptual Modeling for Propositional Logic: Propositions as Events

TL;DR

This paper explores integrating propositional logic with the Thinging Machines (TM) model to enhance conceptual modeling semantics, aiming for a unified logical and semantic framework that clarifies propositions as events.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to formalize propositions as TM regions or events, enriching conceptual modeling with propositional logic and clarifying the semantics of truth and falsehood.

Findings

Propositional logic enhances the rigor of conceptual descriptions.

TM semantics provide a background that complements propositional logic.

The approach clarifies the semantics of negative propositions, disjunctions, and conjunctions.

Abstract

Applying logic in the area of conceptual modeling has been investigated widely, yet there has been limited uptake of logic-based conceptual modeling in industry. According to some researchers, another formalization of such tools as EER or UML class diagrams in logic may only marginally contribute to the body of knowledge. This paper reflects on applying propositional logic language to a high-level diagrammatic representation called the thinging machines (TM) model. We explore the relationship between conceptual modeling and logic, including such issues as: What logical constructs model? How does truth fit into the picture produced in conceptual modeling as a representation of some piece of the world it is about? The ultimate research objective is a quest for a thorough semantic alignment of TM modeling and propositional logic into a single structure. Examples that involve the application of propositional logic in certain areas of reality are TM remodeled, where propositions are viewed as TM regions or events. As it turned out, TM seems to shed light on the semantics of propositions. In such a conceptual framework, logical truth is a matter of how things are in actuality and how falsehood is in subsistence. The results show that propositional logic enriches the rigorousness of conceptual descriptions and that the TM semantic apparatus complements propositional logic by providing a background to the given set of propositions. Semantics matters are applied to propositional constructs such as negative propositions, disjunctions, and conjunctions with negative terms.