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Full Idea
Set theorists often point out that the set-theoretical hierarchy contains as many isomorphism types as possible; that is the point of the theory.
Gist of Idea
The set-theoretical hierarchy contains as many isomorphism types as possible
Source
Stewart Shapiro (Philosophy of Mathematics [1997], 4.8)
Book Ref
Shapiro,Stewart: 'Philosophy of Mathematics:structure and ontology' [OUP 1997], p.136
A Reaction
Hence there are a huge number of models for any theory, which are then reduced to the one we want at the level of isomorphism.
14207 | If cats equal cherries, model theory allows reinterpretation of the whole language preserving truth [Putnam] |
14212 | A consistent theory just needs one model; isomorphic versions will do too, and large domains provide those [Lewis] |
10079 | A 'bijective' function has one-to-one correspondence in both directions [Smith,P] |
10077 | A 'surjective' ('onto') function creates every element of the output set [Smith,P] |
10078 | An 'injective' ('one-to-one') function creates a distinct output element from each original [Smith,P] |
13636 | An axiomatization is 'categorical' if its models are isomorphic, so there is really only one interpretation [Shapiro] |
13670 | Categoricity can't be reached in a first-order language [Shapiro] |
10214 | Theory ontology is never complete, but is only determined 'up to isomorphism' [Shapiro] |
10238 | The set-theoretical hierarchy contains as many isomorphism types as possible [Shapiro] |
10105 | Differences between isomorphic structures seem unimportant [George/Velleman] |
13537 | An 'isomorphism' is a bijection that preserves all structural components [Wolf,RS] |
10884 | A theory is 'categorical' if it has just one model up to isomorphism [Horsten] |
10758 | If models of a mathematical theory are all isomorphic, it is 'categorical', with essentially one model [Rossberg] |