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i.e. Is the set of all sets that are not members of themselves a member of itself?

2007-08-01 11:11:41 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics Mathematics

I'm not talking about the null set... here's an explanation of what I mean:
Some sets are members of themselves, for example, the set of all sets is a set (and therefore a member of itself), or the set of all things that are not chair (which is not a chair and therefore a member of itself.)

Other sets are not members of themselves. (For example, the set of natural numbers is not itself a natural number.)

If we take all the sets in the second category (those that aren't members of themselves) and group them together, we get a set of all of the sets that are not members of themselves. (We can call that set K for ease)
What I want to know, is whether or not set K has K as a member.

2007-08-01 11:19:28 · update #1

3 answers

This is known as Russell's paradox and is a rather famous question. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell's_paradox for more information.

2007-08-01 11:26:09 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

I`m sorry, what?

You should provide an example so people understand you better.

I kind of think you're talking about..a null set (is that what it's called? lol) But I'm not sure..

2007-08-01 18:15:55 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

Meaningless.

You may as well write "This statement is false".

2007-08-01 18:16:14 · answer #3 · answered by lithiumdeuteride 7 · 0 1

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