Morse–Kelley set theory

In the foundation of mathematics, Morse–Kelley set theory (MK), Kelley–Morse set theory (KM), Morse–Tarski set theory (MT), Quine–Morse set theory (QM) or the system of Quine and Morse is a first order axiomatic set theory that is closely related to von Neumann–Bernays–Gödel set theory (NBG). While von Neumann–Bernays–Gödel set theory restricts the bound variables in the schematic formula appearing in the axiom schema of Class Comprehension to range over sets alone, Morse–Kelley set theory allows these bound variables to range over proper classes as well as sets, as first suggested by Quine in 1940 for his system ML.

Morse–Kelley set theory is named after mathematicians John L. Kelley and Anthony Morse and was first set out by Wang (1949) and later in an appendix to Kelley's textbook General Topology (1955), a graduate level introduction to topology. Kelley said the system in his book was a variant of the systems due to Thoralf Skolem and Morse. Morse's own version appeared later in his book A Theory of Sets (1965).

While von Neumann–Bernays–Gödel set theory is a conservative extension of Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory (ZFC, the canonical set theory) in the sense that a statement in the language of ZFC is provable in NBG if and only if it is provable in ZFC, Morse–Kelley set theory is a proper extension of ZFC. Unlike von Neumann–Bernays–Gödel set theory, where the axiom schema of Class Comprehension can be replaced with finitely many of its instances, Morse–Kelley set theory cannot be finitely axiomatized.

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