Exercise 1.3.2

Replace the Axiom of Existence by the following weaker postulate:

Weak Axiom of Existence: Some set exists.

Prove the Axiom of Existence using the Weak Axiom of Existence and the Comprehension Schema. [Hint: Let A be a set known to exist; consider { x A x x } .]

Answers

Proof. Invoking the Weak Axiom of Existence, suppose that A is a set that exists. Let 𝐏 ( x ) denote the proprty x x , noting that clearly 𝐏 ( x ) is false no matter the x , since otherwise identity would be violated. Then the set B = { x A 𝐏 ( x ) } uniquely exists by the Axiom Schema of Comprehension and Lemma 1.3.4.

Now consider any x . If x A , then clearly x B either. If x A , then again x B since the property 𝐏 ( x ) is false (since it is false for any x ). Hence, in both cases x B , which shows that

x ( x B ) ¬ x ( x A )

since x was arbitrary. This of course means that B = is the unique empty set, proving the Axiom of Existence since B was shown to exist. □

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2024-07-15 11:42
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