Theorem ru 3719

Description: Russell's Paradox. Proposition 4.14 of [TakeutiZaring] p. 14.

In the late 1800s, Frege's Axiom of (unrestricted) Comprehension, expressed in our notation as 𝐴 ∈ V, asserted that any collection of sets 𝐴 is a set i.e. belongs to the universe V of all sets. In particular, by substituting {𝑥 ∣ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥} (the "Russell class") for 𝐴, it asserted {𝑥 ∣ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥} ∈ V, meaning that the "collection of all sets which are not members of themselves" is a set. However, here we prove {𝑥 ∣ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥} ∉ V. This contradiction was discovered by Russell in 1901 (published in 1903), invalidating the Comprehension Axiom and leading to the collapse of Frege's system, which Frege acknowledged in the second edition of his Grundgesetze der Arithmetik.

In 1908, Zermelo rectified this fatal flaw by replacing Comprehension with a weaker Subset (or Separation) Axiom ssex 5189 asserting that 𝐴 is a set only when it is smaller than some other set 𝐵. However, Zermelo was then faced with a "chicken and egg" problem of how to show 𝐵 is a set, leading him to introduce the set-building axioms of Null Set 0ex 5175, Pairing prex 5298, Union uniex 7447, Power Set pwex 5246, and Infinity omex 9090 to give him some starting sets to work with (all of which, before Russell's Paradox, were immediate consequences of Frege's Comprehension). In 1922 Fraenkel strengthened the Subset Axiom with our present Replacement Axiom funimaex 6411 (whose modern formalization is due to Skolem, also in 1922). Thus, in a very real sense Russell's Paradox spawned the invention of ZF set theory and completely revised the foundations of mathematics!

Another mainstream formalization of set theory, devised by von Neumann, Bernays, and Goedel, uses class variables rather than setvar variables as its primitives. The axiom system NBG in [Mendelson] p. 225 is suitable for a Metamath encoding. NBG is a conservative extension of ZF in that it proves exactly the same theorems as ZF that are expressible in the language of ZF. An advantage of NBG is that it is finitely axiomatizable - the Axiom of Replacement can be broken down into a finite set of formulas that eliminate its wff metavariable. Finite axiomatizability is required by some proof languages (although not by Metamath). There is a stronger version of NBG called Morse-Kelley (axiom system MK in [Mendelson] p. 287).

Russell himself continued in a different direction, avoiding the paradox with his "theory of types". Quine extended Russell's ideas to formulate his New Foundations set theory (axiom system NF of [Quine] p. 331). In NF, the collection of all sets is a set, contrarily to ZF and NBG set theories. Russell's paradox has other consequences: when classes are too large (beyond the size of those used in standard mathematics), the axiom of choice ac4 9886 and Cantor's theorem canth 7090 are provably false. (See ncanth 7091 for some intuition behind the latter.) Recent results (as of 2014) seem to show that NF is equiconsistent to Z (ZF in which ax-sep 5167 replaces ax-rep 5154) with ax-sep 5167 restricted to only bounded quantifiers. NF is finitely axiomatizable and can be encoded in Metamath using the axioms from T. Hailperin, "A set of axioms for logic", J. Symb. Logic 9:1-19 (1944).

Under our ZF set theory, every set is a member of the Russell class by elirrv 9044 (derived from the Axiom of Regularity), so for us the Russell class equals the universe V (Theorem ruv 9050). See ruALT 9051 for an alternate proof of ru 3719 derived from that fact. (Contributed by NM, 7-Aug-1994.) Remove use of ax-13 2379. (Revised by BJ, 12-Oct-2019.) (Proof modification is discouraged.)

Assertion

Ref	Expression
ru	⊢ {𝑥 ∣ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥} ∉ V

Proof of Theorem ru

Dummy variable 𝑦 is distinct from all other variables.

Step	Hyp	Ref	Expression
1		pm5.19 391	. . . . . 6 ⊢ ¬ (𝑦 ∈ 𝑦 ↔ ¬ 𝑦 ∈ 𝑦)
2		eleq1w 2872	. . . . . . . 8 ⊢ (𝑥 = 𝑦 → (𝑥 ∈ 𝑦 ↔ 𝑦 ∈ 𝑦))
3		df-nel 3092	. . . . . . . . 9 ⊢ (𝑥 ∉ 𝑥 ↔ ¬ 𝑥 ∈ 𝑥)
4		id 22	. . . . . . . . . . 11 ⊢ (𝑥 = 𝑦 → 𝑥 = 𝑦)
5	4, 4	eleq12d 2884	. . . . . . . . . 10 ⊢ (𝑥 = 𝑦 → (𝑥 ∈ 𝑥 ↔ 𝑦 ∈ 𝑦))
6	5	notbid 321	. . . . . . . . 9 ⊢ (𝑥 = 𝑦 → (¬ 𝑥 ∈ 𝑥 ↔ ¬ 𝑦 ∈ 𝑦))
7	3, 6	syl5bb 286	. . . . . . . 8 ⊢ (𝑥 = 𝑦 → (𝑥 ∉ 𝑥 ↔ ¬ 𝑦 ∈ 𝑦))
8	2, 7	bibi12d 349	. . . . . . 7 ⊢ (𝑥 = 𝑦 → ((𝑥 ∈ 𝑦 ↔ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥) ↔ (𝑦 ∈ 𝑦 ↔ ¬ 𝑦 ∈ 𝑦)))
9	8	spvv 2003	. . . . . 6 ⊢ (∀𝑥(𝑥 ∈ 𝑦 ↔ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥) → (𝑦 ∈ 𝑦 ↔ ¬ 𝑦 ∈ 𝑦))
10	1, 9	mto 200	. . . . 5 ⊢ ¬ ∀𝑥(𝑥 ∈ 𝑦 ↔ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥)
11		abeq2 2922	. . . . 5 ⊢ (𝑦 = {𝑥 ∣ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥} ↔ ∀𝑥(𝑥 ∈ 𝑦 ↔ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥))
12	10, 11	mtbir 326	. . . 4 ⊢ ¬ 𝑦 = {𝑥 ∣ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥}
13	12	nex 1802	. . 3 ⊢ ¬ ∃𝑦 𝑦 = {𝑥 ∣ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥}
14		isset 3453	. . 3 ⊢ ({𝑥 ∣ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥} ∈ V ↔ ∃𝑦 𝑦 = {𝑥 ∣ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥})
15	13, 14	mtbir 326	. 2 ⊢ ¬ {𝑥 ∣ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥} ∈ V
16	15	nelir 3094	1 ⊢ {𝑥 ∣ 𝑥 ∉ 𝑥} ∉ V

Syntax hints:  ¬ wn 3   ↔ wb 209  ∀wal 1536   = wceq 1538  ∃wex 1781   ∈ wcel 2111  {cab 2776   ∉ wnel 3091  Vcvv 3441

This theorem was proved from axioms:  ax-mp 5  ax-1 6  ax-2 7  ax-3 8  ax-gen 1797  ax-4 1811  ax-5 1911  ax-6 1970  ax-7 2015  ax-8 2113  ax-9 2121  ax-10 2142  ax-11 2158  ax-12 2175  ax-ext 2770

This theorem depends on definitions:  df-bi 210  df-an 400  df-or 845  df-tru 1541  df-ex 1782  df-nf 1786  df-sb 2070  df-clab 2777  df-cleq 2791  df-clel 2870  df-nel 3092  df-v 3443

This theorem is referenced by: (None)