Tracing Internal Categoricity

TL;DR

This paper introduces the concept of internal categoricity, which applies to both first and second order axiomatizations, offering a new perspective that overcomes traditional limitations related to non-categoricity and infinite regress.

Contribution

It proposes the notion of internal categoricity, providing a unified approach that applies to first and second order theories without relying on meta-theory, and clarifies classical categoricity results.

Findings

Internal categoricity applies to both first and second order axiomatizations.

It does not depend on meta-theory, avoiding infinite regress.

In first order, it is weaker than categoricity; in second order, it is stronger.

Abstract

Informally speaking, the categoricity of an axiom system means that its non-logical symbols have only one possible interpretation that renders the axioms true. Although non-categoricity has become ubiquitous in the second half of the 20th century whether one looks at number theory, geometry or analysis, the first axiomatizations of such mathematical theories by Dedekind, Hilbert, Huntington, Peano and Veblen were indeed categorical. A common resolution of the difference between the earlier categorical axiomatizations and the more modern non-categorical axiomatizations is that the latter derive their non-categoricity from Skolem's Paradox and G\"odel's Incompleteness Theorems, while the former, being second order, suffer from a heavy reliance on metatheory, where the Skolem-G\"odel phenomenon re-emerges. Using second order meta-theory to avoid non-categoricity of the meta-theory would only seem to lead to an infinite regress. In this paper we maintain that internal categoricity breaks this traditional picture. It applies to both first and second order axiomatizations, although in the first order case we have so far only examples. It does not depend on the meta-theory in a way that would lead to an infinite regress. And it covers the classical categoricity results of early researchers. In the first order case it is weaker than categoricity itself, and in the second order case stronger. We give arguments suggesting that internal categoricity is the "right" concept of categoricity.