TITLE: Logical resolution - Why only one pair of complementary literals can be used?
QUESTION [5 upvotes]: The resources I've come across mention that

When the two clauses contain more than one pair of complementary literals, the resolution rule can be applied (independently) for each such pair; however, the result is always a tautology, and thus discarded.

As I understand it, this statement means
$A \vee B, \quad A \vee \neg B \Rightarrow A$ is the right resolution
while
$A \vee B \vee \neg C, \quad A \vee \neg B \vee C \Rightarrow A$ is not
However I don't really get what it means. I think I understand what is a tautology, however how does the result of such a resolution step become a tautology, and why do we have to discard it instead of adding it to the set of clauses? More detailed explanation isn't provided in the resources I've found.

REPLY [6 votes]: If you have
$$ A \lor B \lor \neg C \quad\text{and}\quad A \lor \neg B \lor C $$
you can apply resolution to either $(\neg)B$, producing
$$ A \lor \neg C \lor A \lor C $$
or to $(\neg)C$, producing
$$ A \lor B \lor A \lor \neg B $$
Both of these results are tautologies, however, so they are useless -- knowing that they are true does not tell us anything about the possible truth values of $A$, $B$, and $C$.
But you cannot apply resolution to both $(\neg)B$ and $(\neg)C$ at the same time and get $A\lor A$ -- that's just not how the resolution rule works. (And for good reason; this very example shows that it would be unsound to do so. If all three variables are false, then the two original clauses are both true but $A\lor A$ is false, so you would have concluded something false starting with truth).