DOI: 10.4324/9780415249126-Y028-1
Version: v1, Published online: 1998
Retrieved May 06, 2024, from https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/axiom-of-choice/v-1
Version: v1, Published online: 1998
Retrieved May 06, 2024, from https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/axiom-of-choice/v-1
Article Summary
The axiom of choice is a mathematical postulate about sets: for each family of non-empty sets, there exists a function selecting one member from each set in the family. If those sets have no member in common, it postulates that there is a set having exactly one element in common with each set in the family. First formulated in 1904, the axiom of choice was highly controversial among mathematicians and philosophers, because it epitomized ‘non-constructive’ mathematics. Nevertheless, as time passed, it had an increasingly broad range of consequences in many branches of mathematics.
Citing this article:
Moore, Gregory H.. Axiom of choice, 1998, doi:10.4324/9780415249126-Y028-1. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Taylor and Francis, https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/axiom-of-choice/v-1.
Copyright © 1998-2024 Routledge.
Moore, Gregory H.. Axiom of choice, 1998, doi:10.4324/9780415249126-Y028-1. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Taylor and Francis, https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/axiom-of-choice/v-1.
Copyright © 1998-2024 Routledge.