Combining Texts

Ideas for 'On the Question of Absolute Undecidability', 'Mathematics, Science and Language' and 'On boundary numbers and domains of sets'

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4 ideas

4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 1. Set Theory
Mathematical set theory has many plausible stopping points, such as finitism, and predicativism [Koellner]
     Full Idea: There are many coherent stopping points in the hierarchy of increasingly strong mathematical systems, starting with strict finitism, and moving up through predicativism to the higher reaches of set theory.
     From: Peter Koellner (On the Question of Absolute Undecidability [2006], Intro)
'Reflection principles' say the whole truth about sets can't be captured [Koellner]
     Full Idea: Roughly speaking, 'reflection principles' assert that anything true in V [the set hierarchy] falls short of characterising V in that it is true within some earlier level.
     From: Peter Koellner (On the Question of Absolute Undecidability [2006], 2.1)
4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 4. Axioms for Sets / a. Axioms for sets
Zermelo showed that the ZF axioms in 1930 were non-categorical [Zermelo, by Hallett,M]
     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.
     From: report of Ernst Zermelo (On boundary numbers and domains of sets [1930]) by Michael Hallett - Introduction to Zermelo's 1930 paper 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.
4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 4. Axioms for Sets / h. Axiom of Replacement VII
Replacement was added when some advanced theorems seemed to need it [Zermelo, by Maddy]
     Full Idea: Zermelo included Replacement in 1930, after it was noticed that the sequence of power sets was needed, and Replacement gave the ordinal form of the well-ordering theorem, and justification for transfinite recursion.
     From: report of Ernst Zermelo (On boundary numbers and domains of sets [1930]) by Penelope Maddy - Believing the Axioms I §1.8
     A reaction: Maddy says that this axiom suits the 'limitation of size' theorists very well, but is not so good for the 'iterative conception'.