proof of principle of transfinite induction
To prove the transfinite induction theorem
, we note that the class of ordinals
is well-ordered by . So suppose for some , there are ordinals such that is not true. Suppose further that satisfies the hypothesis
, i.e.. We will reach a contradiction
.
The class is not empty. Note that it may be a proper class, but this is not important. Let be the -minimal element of . Then by assumption
, for every , is true. Thus, by hypothesis, is true, contradiction.