The incompleteness theorems

Abstract

In this chapter we prove that the structure N = (ℕ|+, · , 1) has a first-order theory that is undecidable. This is a special case of Gödel’s First Incompleteness theorem. This theorem implies that any theory (not necessarily first-order) that describes elementary arithmetic on the natural numbers is necessarily undecidable. So there is no algorithm to determine whether or not a given sentence is true in the structure N. As we shall show, the existence of such an algorithm leads to a contradiction. Gödel’s Second Incompleteness theorem states that any decidable theory (not necessarily first-order) that can express elementary arithmetic cannot prove its own consistency. We shall make this idea precise and discuss the Second Incompleteness theorem in Section 8.5. Gödel’s First Incompleteness theorem is proved in Section 8.3. Although they are purely mathematical results, Gödel’s Incompleteness theorems have had undeniable philosophical implications. Gödel’s theorems dispelled commonly held misconceptions regarding the nature of mathematics. A century ago, some of the most prominent mathematicians and logicians viewed mathematics as a branch of logic instead of the other way around. It was thought that mathematics could be completely formalized. It was believed that mathematical reasoning could, at least in principle, be mechanized. Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell envisioned a single system that could be used to derive and enumerate all mathematical truths. In their three-volume Principia Mathematica, Russell and Whitehead rigorously define a system and use it to derive numerous known statements of mathematics. Gödel’s theorems imply that any such system is doomed to be incomplete. If the system is consistent (which cannot be proved within the system by Gödel’s Second theorem), then there necessarily exist true statements formulated within the system that the system cannot prove (by Gödel’s First theorem). This explains why the name “incompleteness” is attributed to these theorems and why the title of Gödel’s 1931 paper translates (from the original German) to “On Formally Undecidable Propositions of Principia Mathematica and Related Systems” (translated versions appear in both [13] and [14]). Depending on one’s point of view, it may or may not be surprising that there is no algorithm to determine whether or not a given sentence is true in N.