Editing Zermelo set theory (section)

== The axioms of Zermelo set theory ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2024}}
The [[axiom]]s of Zermelo set theory are stated for objects, some of which (but not necessarily all) are sets, and the remaining objects are [[urelements]] and not sets. Zermelo's language implicitly includes a membership relation ∈, an equality relation = (if it is not included in the underlying logic), and a unary predicate saying whether an object is a set. Later versions of set theory often assume that all objects are sets so there are no urelements and there is no need for the unary predicate.

# AXIOM I. [[Axiom of extensionality]] (''Axiom der Bestimmtheit'') "If every element of a set ''M'' is also an element of ''N'' and vice versa ... then ''M'' <math>\equiv</math> ''N''.  Briefly, every set is determined by its elements."
# AXIOM II. Axiom of elementary sets (''Axiom der Elementarmengen'') "There exists a set, the null set, ∅, that contains no element at all. If ''a'' is any object of the domain, there exists a set {''a''} containing ''a'' and only ''a'' as an element.  If ''a'' and ''b'' are any two objects of the domain, there always exists a set {''a'', ''b''} containing as elements ''a'' and ''b'' but no object ''x'' distinct from them both."  See [[Axiom of pairing|Axiom of pairs]].
# AXIOM III. [[Axiom of separation]] (''Axiom der Aussonderung'') "Whenever the [[propositional function]] &ndash;(''x'') is defined for all elements of a set ''M'', ''M'' possesses a subset ''M'&nbsp;'' containing as elements precisely those elements ''x'' of ''M'' for which &ndash;(''x'') is true."
# AXIOM IV. [[Axiom of power set|Axiom of the power set]] (''Axiom der Potenzmenge'') "To every set ''T'' there corresponds a set ''T'&nbsp;'', the [[power set]] of ''T'', that contains as elements precisely all subsets of ''T''&nbsp;."
# AXIOM V. [[Axiom of union|Axiom of the union]] (''Axiom der Vereinigung'') "To every set ''T'' there corresponds a set ''∪T'', the union of ''T'', that contains as elements precisely all elements of the elements of ''T''&nbsp;."
# AXIOM VI. [[Axiom of choice]] (''Axiom der Auswahl'') "If ''T'' is a set whose elements all are sets that are different from ∅ and mutually disjoint, its union ''∪T'' includes at least one subset ''S''<sub>1</sub> having one and only one element in common with each element of ''T''&nbsp;."
# AXIOM VII. [[Axiom of infinity]] (''Axiom des Unendlichen'') "There exists in the domain at least one set ''Z'' that contains the null set as an element and is so constituted that to each of its elements ''a'' there corresponds a further element of the form {''a''}, in other words, that with each of its elements ''a'' it also contains the corresponding set {''a''} as element."