A propositional logic of temporal connectives

Abstract

We investigate how to formalize reasoning that takes account of time by using connectives like “before” and “after.” We develop semantics for a formal logic, which we axiomatize. In proving that the axiomatization is strongly complete we show how a temporal ordering of propositions can yield a linear timeline. We formalize examples of ordinary language sentences to illustrate the scope and limitations of this method. We then discuss ways to deal with some of those limitations.