Axiom of Extensionality - Formal Statement

Formal Statement

In the formal language of the Zermelo–Fraenkel axioms, the axiom reads:

or in words:

Given any set A and any set B, if for every set C, C is a member of A if and only if C is a member of B, then A is equal to B.

(It is not really essential that C here be a set — but in ZF, everything is. See Ur-elements below for when this is violated.)

The converse, of this axiom follows from the substitution property of equality.

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