Beta Assertive Graphs: Proofs of Assertions with Quantification

Assertive graphs (AGs) modify Peirce’s Alpha part of Existential Graphs (EGs). They are used to reason about assertions without a need to resort to any ad hoc sign of assertion. The present paper presents an extension of propositional AGs to the Beta case by introducing two kinds of non-interdefinable lines. The absence of polarities in the theory of AGs necessitates Beta-AGs that resort to such two lines: standard lines that mean the presence of a certain method of asserting, and barbed lines that mean the presence of a general method of asserting. New rules of transformations for Beta-AGs are presented by which it is shown how to derive the theorems of quantificational intuitionistic logic. Generally, Beta-AGs offer a new non-classical system of quantification by which one can logically analyse complex assertions by a notation which (i) is free from a separate sign of assertion, (ii) does not involve explicit polarities, and (iii) specifies a type-referential notation for quantification. These properties stand in important contrast both to standard diagrammatic notations and to standard, occurrence-referential quantificational notations.