more from Ernst Zermelo

Single Idea 17832

[catalogued under 4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 4. Axioms for Sets / a. Axioms for sets]

Full Idea

Zermelo's paper sets out to show that the standard set-theoretic axioms (what he calls the 'constitutive axioms', thus the ZF axioms minus the axiom of infinity) have an unending sequence of different models, thus that they are non-categorical.

Clarification

'Categorical' means all the models are isomorphic to one another

Gist of Idea

Zermelo showed that the ZF axioms in 1930 were non-categorical

Source

report of Ernst Zermelo (On boundary numbers and domains of sets [1930]) by Michael Hallett - Introduction to Zermelo's 1930 paper p.1209

Book Reference

'From Kant to Hilbert: sourcebook Vol. 2', ed/tr. Ewald,William [OUP 1996], p.1209


A Reaction

Hallett says later that Zermelo is working with second-order set theory. The addition of an Axiom of Infinity seems to have aimed at addressing the problem, and the complexities of that were pursued by Gödel.