Paradox of the class of all grounded classes

Abstract

A class A for which there is an infinite progression of classes A1, A2, … (not necessarily all distinct) such thatis said to be groundless. A class which is not groundless is said to be grounded. Let K be the class of all grounded classes.Let us assume that K is a groundless class. Then there is an infinite progression of classes A1, A2, … such thatSince A1 ϵ K, A1 is a grounded class; sinceA1 is also a groundless class. But this is impossible.Therefore K is a grounded class. Hence K ϵ K, and we haveTherefore K is also a groundless class.This paradox forms a sort of triplet with the paradox of the class of all non-circular classes and the paradox of the class of all classes which are not n-circular (n a given natural number). The last of the three includes as a special case the paradox of the class of all classes which are not members of themselves (n = 1).More exactly, a class A1 is circular if there exists some positive integer n and classes A2, A3, …, An such thatFor any given positive integer n, a class A1 is n-circular if there are classes A2, …, An, such thatQuite obviously, by arguments similar to the above, we get a paradox of the class of all non-circular classes and a paradox of the class of all classes which are not n-circular, for each positive integer n.