Paraconsistent and Paracomplete Zermelo-Fraenkel Set Theory

TL;DR

This paper develops a four-valued paraconsistent and paracomplete set theory, BZFC, that extends ZFC to reason about incomplete and inconsistent phenomena while maintaining a strong mathematical foundation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel four-valued axiomatic set theory, BZFC, with a clear ontology of non-classical sets and bi-interpretability with ZFC, enabling new reasoning about non-classical phenomena.

Findings

Existence of a single non-classical set implies all types of non-classical sets.

BZFC is bi-interpretable with ZFC, linking classical and non-classical set theories.

Classical satisfaction relation reflects non-classicality in the meta-theory.

Abstract

We present a novel treatment of set theory in a four-valued paraconsistent and paracomplete logic, i.e., a logic in which propositions can be both true and false, and neither true nor false. Our approach is a significant departure from previous research in paraconsistent set theory, which has almost exclusively been motivated by a desire to avoid Russell's paradox and fulfil naive comprehension. Instead, we prioritise setting up a system with a clear ontology of non-classical sets, which can be used to reason informally about incomplete and inconsistent phenomena, and is sufficiently similar to ZFC to enable the development of interesting mathematics. We propose an axiomatic system BZFC, obtained by analysing the ZFC-axioms and translating them to a four-valued setting in a careful manner, avoiding many of the obstacles encountered by other attempted formalizations. We introduce the anti-classicality axiom postulating the existence of non-classical sets, and prove a surprising results stating that the existence of a single non-classical set is sufficient to produce any other type of non-classical set. Our theory is naturally bi-interpretable with ZFC, and provides a philosophically satisfying view in which non-classical sets can be seen as a natural extension of classical ones, in a similar way to the non-well-founded sets of Peter Aczel. Finally, we provide an interesting application concerning Tarski semantics, showing that the classical definition of the satisfaction relation yields a logic precisely reflecting the non-classicality in the meta-theory.