Naive set theory is one of several theories of sets used in the discussion of the foundations of mathematics. The informal content of this naive set theory supports both the aspects of mathematical sets familiar in discrete mathematics (for example Venn diagrams and symbolic reasoning about their Boolean algebra), and the everyday usage of set theory concepts in most contemporary mathematics.
Sets are of great importance in mathematics; in fact, in modern formal treatments, most mathematical objects (numbers, relations, functions, etc.) are defined in terms of sets. Naive set theory can be seen as a stepping-stone to more formal treatments, and suffices for many purposes.
Read more about Naive Set Theory: Requirements, Sets, Membership and Equality, Specifying Sets, Subsets, Universal Sets and Absolute Complements, Unions, Intersections, and Relative Complements, Ordered Pairs and Cartesian Products, Some Important Sets, Paradoxes
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Saying this,
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—Hla Stavhana (c. 50 A.D.)
“This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
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Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“No theory is good unless it permits, not rest, but the greatest work. No theory is good except on condition that one use it to go on beyond.”
—André Gide (1869–1951)