Studies in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics, Volume 102: Set Theory: An Introduction to Independence Proofs offers an introduction to relative consistency proofs in axiomatic set theory, including combinatorics, sets, trees, and forcing. The book first tackles the foundations of set theory and infinitary combinatorics. Discussions focus on the Suslin problem, Martin's axiom, almost disjoint and quasi-disjoint sets, trees, extensionality and comprehension, relations, functions, and well-ordering, ordinals, cardinals, and real numbers. The manuscript then ponders on well-founded sets and easy consistency proofs, including relativization, absoluteness, reflection theorems, properties of well-founded sets, and induction and recursion on well-founded relations. The publication examines constructible sets, forcing, and iterated forcing. Topics include Easton forcing, general iterated forcing, Cohen model, forcing with partial functions of larger cardinality, forcing with finite partial functions, and general extensions. The manuscript is a dependable source of information for mathematicians and researchers interested in set theory.

This book presents the classic relative consistency proofs in set theory that are obtained by the device of 'inner models'. Three examples of such models are investigated in Chapters VI, VII, and VIII; the most important of these, the class of constructible sets, leads to G6del's result that the axiom of choice and the continuum hypothesis are consistent with the rest of set theory [1]I. The text thus constitutes an introduction to the results of P. Cohen concerning the independence of these axioms [2], and to many other relative consistency proofs obtained later by Cohen's methods. Chapters I and II introduce the axioms of set theory, and develop such parts of the theory as are indispensable for every relative consistency proof; the method of recursive definition on the ordinals being an import ant case in point. Although, more or less deliberately, no proofs have been omitted, the development here will be found to require of the reader a certain facility in naive set theory and in the axiomatic method, such e as should be achieved, for example, in first year graduate work (2 cycle de mathernatiques).

This third edition, now available in paperback, is a follow up to the author's classic Boolean-Valued Models and Independence Proofs in Set Theory,. It provides an exposition of some of the most important results in set theory obtained in the 20th century: the independence of the continuum hypothesis and the axiom of choice. Aimed at graduate students and researchers in mathematics, mathematical logic, philosophy, and computer science, the third edition has been extensively updated with expanded introductory material, new chapters, and a new appendix on category theory. It covers recent developments in the field and contains numerous exercises, along with updated and increased coverage of the background material. This new paperback edition includes additional corrections and, for the first time, will make this landmark text accessible to students in logic and set theory.

"Studies in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics, Volume 102: Set Theory: An Introduction to Independence Proofs offers an introduction to relative consistency proofs in axiomatic set theory, including combinatorics, sets, trees, and forcing. The book first tackles the foundations of set theory and infinitary combinatorics. Discussions focus on the Suslin problem, Martin's axiom, almost disjoint and quasi-disjoint sets, trees, extensionality and comprehension, relations, functions, and well-ordering, ordinals, cardinals, and real numbers. The manuscript then ponders on well-founded sets and easy consistency proofs, including relativization, absoluteness, reflection theorems, properties of well-founded sets, and induction and recursion on well-founded relations. The publication examines constructible sets, forcing, and iterated forcing. Topics include Easton forcing, general iterated forcing, Cohen model, forcing with partial functions of larger cardinality, forcing with finite partial functions, and general extensions. The manuscript is a dependable source of information for mathematicians and researchers interested in set theory" -- Provided by publisher.

This textbook gives an introduction to axiomatic set theory and examines the prominent questions that are relevant in current research in a manner that is accessible to students. Its main theme is the interplay of large cardinals, inner models, forcing and descriptive set theory. The following topics are covered: • Forcing and constructability • The Solovay-Shelah Theorem i.e. the equiconsistency of ‘every set of reals is Lebesgue measurable’ with one inaccessible cardinal • Fine structure theory and a modern approach to sharps • Jensen’s Covering Lemma • The equivalence of analytic determinacy with sharps • The theory of extenders and iteration trees • A proof of projective determinacy from Woodin cardinals. Set Theory requires only a basic knowledge of mathematical logic and will be suitable for advanced students and researchers.

Do numbers, sets, and so forth, exist? What do mathematical statements mean? Are they literally true or false, or do they lack truth values altogether? Addressing questions that have attracted lively debate in recent years, Stewart Shapiro contends that standard realist and antirealist accounts of mathematics are both problematic. As Benacerraf first noted, we are confronted with the following powerful dilemma. The desired continuity between mathematical and, say, scientific language suggests realism, but realism in this context suggests seemingly intractable epistemic problems. As a way out of this dilemma, Shapiro articulates a structuralist approach. On this view, the subject matter of arithmetic, for example, is not a fixed domain of numbers independent of each other, but rather is the natural number structure, the pattern common to any system of objects that has an initial object and successor relation satisfying the induction principle. Using this framework, realism in mathematics can be preserved without troublesome epistemic consequences. Shapiro concludes by showing how a structuralist approach can be applied to wider philosophical questions such as the nature of an "object" and the Quinean nature of ontological commitment. Clear, compelling, and tautly argued, Shapiro's work, noteworthy both in its attempt to develop a full-length structuralist approach to mathematics and to trace its emergence in the history of mathematics, will be of deep interest to both philosophers and mathematicians.

We relate Freyd's topos-theoretic models for the independence of the axiom of choice to the more familiar symmetric Boolean-valued models.