Consider the following set of axioms:
- $a \leq a$
- $(a \leq b \mathrel{\&} b \leq a) \Rightarrow a = b$
- $(a \leq b \mathrel{\&} b \leq c) \Rightarrow a \leq c$
- $0 \leq a \mathrel{\&} a \leq 1$
- $a \leq a \lor b \mathrel{\&} b \leq a \lor b \mathrel{\&} ((a \leq c \mathrel{\&} b \leq c) \Rightarrow a \lor b \leq c)$
- $a \land b \leq a \mathrel{\&} a \land b \leq b \mathrel{\&} ((c \leq a \mathrel{\&} c \leq b) \Rightarrow c \leq a \land b)$
- $((a \leq b \mathrel{\&} a \leq \neg b) \Rightarrow a \leq 0) \mathrel{\&} ((b \leq a \mathrel{\&} \neg b \leq a) \Rightarrow 1 \leq a)$
- $a \nleq \neg b \Rightarrow \exists x (x \neq 0 \mathrel{\&} x \leq a \mathrel{\&} x \leq b)$
[1] says axioms 7 and 8 are independent from axioms 1-6, and that axioms 1-8 are complete for Boolean algebras, but not that axioms 7 and 8 are independent from one another in the presence of axioms 1-6, leaving open the possibility that axioms 1-7 are also complete for Boolean algebras. So my question is: are they? If not, is there a quantifier-free extension of axioms 1-7 that is?
[1]: Huntington, E. V.. "Sets of Independent Postulates for the Algebra of Logic", Transactions of the American Mathematical Society, vol. 5, no. 3, 1904, pp. 288-309.
Axiom 8 can be replaced by the axiom $a\vee(b\wedge c)=(a\vee b)\wedge (a\vee c)$. In the language of order theory, axioms 1-6 describe a (bounded) lattice, and adding axiom 7 gives you a complemented lattice (with a specific choice of complement operation). Boolean algebras are the same thing as complemented distributive lattices, so all you need to add to axioms 1-7 is the distributive law.