Categoricity-like Properties in the First Order Realm
Ali Enayat, Mateusz Łełyk · Journal for the Philosophy of Mathematics. · 2024
By classical results of Dedekind and Zermelo, second order logic imposes categoricity features on Peano Arithmetic and Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory. However, we have known since Skolem’s anti-categoricity theorems that the first order formulations of Peano Arithmetic and Zermelo- Fraenkel set theory (i.e., PA and ZF) are not categorical. Here we investigate various categoricity-like properties (including tightness, solidity, and internal categoricity) that are exhibited by a distinguished class of first order theories that include PA and ZF, with the aim of understanding what is special about canonical foundational first order theories.