An implication of G¨odel’s incompleteness theorem Hitoshi Kitada Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences University of Tokyo Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8914, Japan
[email protected] March 22, 2009 Abstract A proof of G¨odel’s incompleteness theorem is given. With this new proof a transfinite extension of G¨odel’s theorem is considered. It is shown that if one assumes the set theory ZFC on the meta level as well as on the object level, a contradiction arises. The cause is shown to be the implicit identification of the meta level and the object level hidden behind the G¨odel numbering. An implication of these considerations is stated. AMS Subject Classification: 03F40, 03F15, 03B25, 03E99 Key Words and Phrases: Consistency, Incompleteness, G¨odel, Transfinite extension 1 Introduction G¨odel’s incompleteness theorem is well-known. It says “If a formal theory S including number theory is consistent, there is a proposition G both of whose affirmation G and negation ¬G are not provable in S.” This is the G¨odel’s first theorem. The second theorem says “If a formal theory S including number arXiv:0904.0342v1 [math.LO] 2 Apr 2009 theory is consistent, the consistency of S is not provable by the method which is formalizable in the theory S itself.” The incompleteness in this context is the incompleteness in syntactic sense, i.e. it is regarded to be proved solely by the syntactic treatment of the words of the formal system S, independently of the meaning of the propositions. There is on the other hand the completeness in semantic sense.