The Cardinal Squaring Principle and an Alternative Axiomatization of NFU

Abstract

In this paper, we rigorously prove the existence of type-level ordered pairs in Quine’s New Foundations with atoms, augmented by the axiom of infinity and the axiom of choice (NFU + Inf + AC). The proof uses the cardinal squaring principle; more precisely, its instance for the (infinite) universe (VCSP), which is a theorem of NFU + Inf + AC. Therefore, we have a justification for proposing a new axiomatic extension of NFU, in order to obtain type-level ordered pairs almost from the beginning. This axiomatic extension is NFU + Inf + AC + VCSP, which is equivalent to NFU + Inf + AC, but easier to reason about.