English

The concept of a set

History and Overview 2009-05-12 v1

Abstract

Metaphysical interpretations of set theory are either inconsistent or incoherent. The uses of sets in mathematics actually involve three distinct kinds of collections (surveyable, definite, and heuristic), which are governed by three different kinds of logic (classical, intuitionistic, and minimal). A foundational system incorporating this analysis and based on the principles of mathematical conceptualism accords better with actual mathematical practice than Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory does.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0905.1677,
  title  = {The concept of a set},
  author = {Nik Weaver},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0905.1677},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

11 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-21T13:00:44.425Z