axiom

In order to fully understand the meaning of the term axiom, the first thing to do is discover what its etymological origin is. In this case, we can state that it is a word that derives from the Greek, more specifically from the word “axiom”. This can be translated as "authority".

It must be stated that this Latin term was formed from the sum of two clearly delimited components:
- “Axios”, which is equivalent to “valued” or “worthy”.
-The suffix “-ma”, which is used to indicate “result of an action”.

An axiom is a proposition that, due to the degree of evidence and certainty it exhibits, is admitted without demonstration. In the field of mathematics, an axiom is called a fundamental principle that cannot be demonstrated but that is used for the development of a theory.

At a general level it can be said that an axiom is an expression that is accepted or approved beyond the absence of a proof of its postulate. It is a proposition that cannot be deduced from others: it is the first step in the demonstration of others. formulas from a deductive process.

An axiom can be said to be a postulate which, within the framework of a deduction, allows a conclusion to be reached. This is because the axiom qualifies itself as true even without proof, and allows other propositions that are consistent in this framework to be inferred by deduction.

Continuing with this line of thought, it can be affirmed that the propositions of a theory they are inferred from the initial axioms. These axioms are considered true in all possible scenarios, regardless of any interpretation or the adoption of any value.

It is called axiomatic system to the series of axioms that, through deductions, serves to prove theorems. A example axiomatic system is the one used by Euclid, who derived his theorems of geometry from a set of axioms.

No less important is to establish the existence of what has been called the axiom of choice. This term is used in the field of mathematics, more specifically within what is known as Set Theory. What comes to determine the same is that in a family of non-empty sets disjoint two by two, there is the existence of a set that contains an element belonging to each of them.

Many are the scientists and mathematicians who have not hesitated to work on this axiom. This would be the case, for example, of the American mathematician Paul J. Cohen or the illustrious mathematician Kurt Gödel. However, despite all the work carried out in this regard, there is still no agreement on it, that is, it generates a lot of controversy among experts in the aforementioned field.