Material set theory

Axiom of Extensionality

The Axiom of Extensionality is a possible axiom in Material set theory that seems to follow directly from Cantor’s definition of the set: zf

which is to say, two sets are the same iff they have the same elements.

Relation to other axioms

  • The Axiom of Extensionality seems to give a complete definition of set equality, but if we are dealing with ill-founded sets it may reduce to tautologous . Thus Extensionality is compatible with Aczel’s Antifoundation Axiom.

Axiom of Extensionality for classes

In a material set theory with classes have an identical axiom with sethood replaced with classhood: nbg


tidy | en | sembr