The Foundations Of Mathematics

The Logical Foundations of Mathematics offers a study of the foundations of mathematics, stressing comparisons between and critical analyses of the major non-constructive foundational systems. The position of constructivism within the spectrum of foundational philosophies is discussed, along with the exact relationship between topos theory and set theory. Comprised of eight chapters, this book begins with an introduction to first-order logic. In particular, two complete systems of axioms and rules for the first-order predicate calculus are given, one for efficiency in proving metatheorems, and the other, in a "natural deduction" style, for presenting detailed formal proofs. A somewhat novel feature of this framework is a full semantic and syntactic treatment of variable-binding term operators as primitive symbols of logic. Subsequent chapters focus on the origin of modern foundational studies; Gottlob Frege's formal system intended to serve as a foundation for mathematics and its paradoxes; the theory of types; and the Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory. David Hilbert's program and Kurt Gödel's incompleteness theorems are also examined, along with the foundational systems of W. V. Quine and the relevance of categorical algebra for foundations. This monograph will be of interest to students, teachers, practitioners, and researchers in mathematics.

Mathematical logic grew out of philosophical questions regarding the foundations of mathematics, but logic has now outgrown its philosophical roots, and has become an integral part of mathematics in general. This book is designed for students who plan to specialize in logic, as well as for those who are interested in the applications of logic to other areas of mathematics. Used as a text, it could form the basis of a beginning graduate-level course. There are three main chapters: Set Theory, Model Theory, and Recursion Theory. The Set Theory chapter describes the set-theoretic foundations of all of mathematics, based on the ZFC axioms. It also covers technical results about the Axiom of Choice, well-orderings, and the theory of uncountable cardinals. The Model Theory chapter discusses predicate logic and formal proofs, and covers the Completeness, Compactness, and Lowenheim-Skolem Theorems, elementary submodels, model completeness, and applications to algebra. This chapter also continues the foundational issues begun in the set theory chapter. Mathematics can now be viewed as formal proofs from ZFC. Also, model theory leads to models of set theory. This includes a discussion of absoluteness, and an analysis of models such as H( ) and R( ). The Recursion Theory chapter develops some basic facts about computable functions, and uses them to prove a number of results of foundational importance; in particular, Church's theorem on the undecidability of logical consequence, the incompleteness theorems of Godel, and Tarski's theorem on the non-definability of truth.

Classic undergraduate text acquaints students with fundamental concepts and methods of mathematics. Topics include axiomatic method, set theory, infinite sets, groups, intuitionism, formal systems, mathematical logic, and much more. 1965 second edition.

Presents a detailed and critical examination of the available conceptions of set and proposes a novel version.

The transition from school mathematics to university mathematics is seldom straightforward. Students are faced with a disconnect between the algorithmic and informal attitude to mathematics at school, versus a new emphasis on proof, based on logic, and a more abstract development of general concepts, based on set theory. The authors have many years' experience of the potential difficulties involved, through teaching first-year undergraduates and researching the ways in which students and mathematicians think. The book explains the motivation behind abstract foundational material based on students' experiences of school mathematics, and explicitly suggests ways students can make sense of formal ideas. This second edition takes a significant step forward by not only making the transition from intuitive to formal methods, but also by reversing the process- using structure theorems to prove that formal systems have visual and symbolic interpretations that enhance mathematical thinking. This is exemplified by a new chapter on the theory of groups. While the first edition extended counting to infinite cardinal numbers, the second also extends the real numbers rigorously to larger ordered fields. This links intuitive ideas in calculus to the formal epsilon-delta methods of analysis. The approach here is not the conventional one of 'nonstandard analysis', but a simpler, graphically based treatment which makes the notion of an infinitesimal natural and straightforward. This allows a further vision of the wider world of mathematical thinking in which formal definitions and proof lead to amazing new ways of defining, proving, visualising and symbolising mathematics beyond previous expectations.

This 2001 book will appeal to mathematicians and philosophers interested in the foundations of mathematics.

This edited work presents contemporary mathematical practice in the foundational mathematical theories, in particular set theory and the univalent foundations. It shares the work of significant scholars across the disciplines of mathematics, philosophy and computer science. Readers will discover systematic thought on criteria for a suitable foundation in mathematics and philosophical reflections around the mathematical perspectives. The volume is divided into three sections, the first two of which focus on the two most prominent candidate theories for a foundation of mathematics. Readers may trace current research in set theory, which has widely been assumed to serve as a framework for foundational issues, as well as new material elaborating on the univalent foundations, considering an approach based on homotopy type theory (HoTT). The third section then builds on this and is centred on philosophical questions connected to the foundations of mathematics. Here, the authors contribute to discussions on foundational criteria with more general thoughts on the foundations of mathematics which are not connected to particular theories. This book shares the work of some of the most important scholars in the fields of set theory (S. Friedman), non-classical logic (G. Priest) and the philosophy of mathematics (P. Maddy). The reader will become aware of the advantages of each theory and objections to it as a foundation, following the latest and best work across the disciplines and it is therefore a valuable read for anyone working on the foundations of mathematics or in the philosophy of mathematics.

This modern introduction to the foundations of logic and mathematics not only takes theory into account, but also treats in some detail applications that have a substantial impact on everyday life (loans and mortgages, bar codes, public-key cryptography). A first college-level introduction to logic, proofs, sets, number theory, and graph theory, and an excellent self-study reference and resource for instructors.