Are Large Cardinal Axioms Restrictive? Neil Barton∗ 24 June 2020† Abstract The independence phenomenon in set theory, while pervasive, can be partially addressed through the use of large cardinal axioms. A commonly assumed idea is that large cardinal axioms are species of maximality principles. In this paper, I argue that whether or not large cardinal axioms count as maximality principles depends on prior commitments concerning the richness of the subset forming operation. In particular I argue that there is a conception of maximality through absoluteness, on which large cardinal axioms are restrictive. I argue, however, that large cardinals are still important axioms of set theory and can play many of their usual foundational roles. Introduction Large cardinal axioms are widely viewed as some of the best candidates for new axioms of set theory. They are (apparently) linearly ordered by consistency strength, have substantial mathematical consequences for questions independent from ZFC (such as consistency statements and Projective Determinacy1), and appear natural to the ∗Fachbereich Philosophie, University of Konstanz. E-mail: neil.barton@unikonstanz.de. †I would like to thank David Asperó, David Fernández-Bretón, Monroe Eskew, Sy-David Friedman, Victoria Gitman, Luca Incurvati, Michael Potter, Chris Scambler, Giorgio Venturi, Matteo Viale, Kameryn Williams and audiences in Cambridge, New York, Konstanz, and São Paulo for helpful discussion. Two anonymous referees also provided helpful comments, and I am grateful for their input. I am also very grateful for the generous support of the FWF (Austrian Science Fund) through Project P 28420 (The Hyperuniverse Programme) and the VolkswagenStiftung through the project Forcing: Conceptual Change in the Foundations of Mathematics. 1See [Schindler, 2014] for a textbook treatment of large cardinals and determinacy. 1 working set theorist, providing fine-grained information about different properties of transfinite sets. They are considered mathematically interesting and central for the study of set theory and its philosophy. In this paper, I do not deny any of the above views. I will, however, argue that the status of large cardinal axioms as maximality principles is questionable. In particular, I will argue that there is a conception of maximality in set theory on which large cardinal axioms are viewed as restrictive principles and serve to leave out the consideration of certain subsets. Despite this, we'll see that they are nonetheless able to carry out many of their key foundational roles in this context. Here's the plan: First (§1) I'll provide some background, explain the absoluteness principle we will consider (the Class-Generic Inner Model Hypothesis or CIMH) and argue that on this perspective many versions of ZFC with large cardinals added come out as restrictive (in particular relative to Maddy's notion of restrictiveness). Next (§2) I'll compare the justification of the CIMH with that of bounded forcing axioms, arguing that they rest on similar maximality motivations, but calibrate them in very different ways. I'll then (§3) argue that large cardinals can still fulfil many of their required foundational roles. Finally (§4) I'll conclude with some possible ramifications for the study of the philosophy of set theory and some open questions. 1 Large cardinals, the Class-Generic Inner Model Hypothesis, and restrictiveness In this section, I'll accomplish three things. First (§1.1) I'll provide some background on large cardinals and how they have been viewed philosophically. Second (§1.2) I'll explain the core absoluteness principle we will use to generate the problem for the friend of large cardinals, namely the Class-Generic Inner Model Hypothesis. Third (§1.3) I'll argue that from this perspective ZFC with large cardinals added appears restrictive, up to the level of many measurable cardinals. In this latter regard, we'll look at Maddy's characterisation of restrictiveness. 1.1 Large cardinals This initial material will be familiar to specialists, but I include it simply for clarity and because our main point is rather philosophical in nature: The place of large cardinals in set theory requires further sharpening of the powerset operation. Time-pressed readers are invited to proceed directly to §1.2. 2 Given a set theory capable of axiomatising a reasonable fragment of arithmetic (i.e. able to support the coding of the relevant syntactic notions), we start our discussion with the following celebrated theorem: Theorem 1. [Gödel, 1931] (Second Incompleteness Theorem). No ωconsistent recursive theory T capable of axiomatising primitive recursive arithmetic can prove its own consistency sentence Con(T). Given then some appropriately strong set theory T, we can then obtain a strictly stronger theory by adding Con(T) to T. So, if we accept 'ZFC' then, ZFC + Con(ZFC) is a strictly stronger theory, and ZFC + Con(ZFC + Con(ZFC)) is strictly stronger still. More generally: Definition 2. A theory T has greater consistency strength than S if we can prove Con(S) from Con(T), but cannot prove Con(T) from Con(S). They are called equiconsistent iff we can both prove Con(T) from Con(S) and Con(S) from Con(T).2 The interesting fact for current purposes is that in set theory we are not limited to increasing consistency strength solely through adding Gödel-style diagonal sentences. The axiom which asserts the existence of a transitive model of ZFC is stronger still (such an axiom implies the consistency of theories with transfinite iterations of the consistency sentence for ZFC). As it turns out, by postulating the existence of certain kinds of models, embeddings, and varieties of sets, we discover theories with greater consistency strength. For example: Definition 3. (ZFC) A cardinal κ is strongly inaccessible iff it is uncountable, regular (i.e. there is no function from a smaller cardinal unbounded in κ), and a strong limit cardinal (i.e. if |x| < κ then |P(x)| < κ). Such an axiom provides a model for second-order ZFC2, namely (Vκ,∈,Vκ+1). These cardinals represent the first steps on an enormous hierarchy of logically and combinatorially characterised objects.3 More generally, we have the following rough idea: A large cardinal axiom 2A subtlety here concerns what base theory we should use to prove these equiconsistency claims. Number theory will do (since consistency statements are numbertheoretic facts), but we will keep discussion mostly at the level of a suitable set theory (e.g. ZFC). 3Often, combinatorial and logical characterisations go hand in hand, such as in the case of measurable cardinals. However, sometimes it is not clear how to get one characterisation from another. Recently, cardinals often thought of as having only combinatorial characterisations have been found to have embedding characterisations. See [Holy et al., S] for details. 3 is a principle that serves as a natural stepping stone in the indexing of consistency strength. In the case of inaccessibles, many of the logical properties attaching to the cardinal appear to derive from its brute size. For example, it is because of the fact that such a κ cannot be reached 'from below' by either of the axioms of Replacement or Powerset that (Vκ,∈,Vκ+1) satisfies ZFC2. In addition, this is often the case for other kinds of cardinal and consistency implications. A Mahlo cardinal, for example, is a strongly inaccessible cardinal κ beneath which there is a stationary set (i.e. an S ⊆ κ such that S intersects every closed and unbounded subset of κ) of inaccessible cardinals. The fact that such a cardinal has higher consistency strength than that of strong inaccessibles (and mild strengthenings thereof) is simply because it contains many models of these axioms below it. It is not the case, however, that consistency strength is inextricably tied to size. For example, the notion of a strong4 cardinal has lower consistency strength than that of superstrong5 cardinal, but the least strong cardinal is larger than the least superstrong cardinal.6 The key point is that despite the fact that the least superstrong is not as big as the least strong cardinal, one can always build a model of a strong cardinal from the existence of a superstrong cardinal (but not vice versa). Thus, despite the fact that a superstrong cardinal can be 'smaller', it still witnesses the consistency of the existence of a strong cardinal. Before we move on, we note some foundational uses for large cardinals that make them especially attractive objects of study. First: Fact. The 'natural' large cardinal principles appear to be linearly ordered by consistency strength. One can gerrymander principles (via metamathematical coding) that would produce only a partial-order of consistency strengths7, however it is an empirical fact that the large cardinal axioms that set theorists have naturally come up with and view as interesting are linearly ordered.8 This empirical fact has resulted in the following feature of mathematical practice: 4A cardinal κ is strong iff for all ordinals λ, there is a non-trivial elementary embedding (to be discussed later) j : V −→ M, with critical point κ, and in which Vλ ⊆M. 5A cardinal κ is superstrong iff it is the critical point of a non-trivial elementary embedding j : V −→M such that Vj(κ) ⊆M. 6See [Kanamori, 2009], p. 360. 7See [Koellner, 2011] for discussion. 8There are some open questions to be tied up, for example around strongly compact cardinals and around Jónsson cardinals. 4 Fact. Large cardinals serve as the the natural indices of consistency strength in mathematics. In particular, if consistency concerns are raised about a new branch of mathematics, the usual way to assess our confidence in the consistency of the practice is to provide a model for the relevant theory with sets, possibly using large cardinals.9 For example, worries of consistency were raised during the emergence of category theory, and were assuaged by providing a set-theoretic interpretation, which then freed mathematicians to use the category-theoretic language with security. Grothendieck postulated the existence of universes (equivalent to the existence of inaccessible cardinals), and Mac Lane is very careful to use universes in his expository textbook for the working mathematician.10 These later found application in interpreting some of the cohomological notions used in the original Wiles-Taylor proof of Fermat's Last Theorem (see [McLarty, 2010]). Of course now category theory is a well-established discipline in its own right, and quite possibly stands free of set-theoretic foundations. Nonetheless, set theory was useful providing an upper bound for the consistency strength of the emerging mathematical field. More recently, several category-theoretic principles (even some studied in the 1960s) have been calibrated to have substantial large cardinal strength.11 This observation concerning the role of large cardinals in contemporary mathematics point to a central desideratum for their use: Interpretative Power. Large cardinals are required to maximise interpretative power: We want our theory of sets to facilitate a unified foundational theory in which all mathematics can be developed.12 9See here, for example, Steel: "The central role of the theories axiomatized by large cardinal hypotheses argues for adding such hypotheses to our framework. The goal of our framework theory is to maximize interpretative power, to provide a language and theory in which all mathematics, of today, and of the future so far as we can anticipate it today, can be developed." ([Steel, 2014], p. 11) 10See [Mac Lane, 1971], Ch.1, §6. Also interesting here is [McLarty, 1992], Ch. 12. 11See [Bagaria and Brooke-Taylor, 2013] for details. The consistency strength is really quite high; many category-theoretic statements turn out to be equivalent to Vopěnka's Principle. 12This idea is strongly emphasised in [Steel, 2014] and has a strong affinity with Penelope Maddy's principles UNIFY and MAXIMIZE (see [Maddy, 1997] and [Maddy, 1998]). We will discuss the latter in due course. 5 Maximising interpretative power entails maximising consistency strength; we want a theory that is able to incorporate as much consistent mathematics as is possible whilst preserving a sense of intended interpretation, and hence (assuming the actual consistency of the relevant cardinals) require the consistency strength of our framework theory to be very high. One particular way in which large cardinals are used to generate 'nice' interpretations is via the building of inner models. For many large cardinal axioms we can (using the relevant large cardinal axioms) build a model that takes itself to contain a cardinal of a particular kind. For many cardinals we can build models that are L-like and satisfy properties such as condensation, revealing a good deal of information about the properties of the sets they contain (relative to the model). Again, the details are rather technical, so we omit them.13 The point is the following: Often in set theory we have very little information about the properties of certain sets, as exhibited by the independence phenomenon. This is not so for large cardinals with L-like inner models, where (whilst there are open questions) there is a large amount of highly tractable information concerning the objects. The building of inner models for large cardinals thus represents an important and technically sophisticated area of study, and many of the major open questions in set theory concern their construction. The final (related) point that we shall make about large cardinals is their use in proving axioms of definable determinacy. The full details will be familiar to specialists and obscure to non-specialists, so we omit them here.14 Nonetheless, a coarse description will be helpful in stating our arguments. Roughly put, axioms of definable determinacy assert (schematic) claims about second-order arithmetic, postulating the existence of winning strategies for games played with natural numbers.15 Importantly, some authors have argued that these axioms have various pleasant consequences we would like to capture.16 One salient fact is that Projective Determinacy yields high degree of completeness for the hereditarily countable sets (i.e. there are no known statements apart from Gödel style diagonal sentences independent from the the13For the state of the art concerning inner model theory and the challenges faced, see [Sargsyan, 2013] and [Woodin, 2017]. For an overview of what makes a model L-like, see [Steel, 2010], especially §5 and Theorems 5.1 and 5.4. 14The interested reader is directed to [Schindler, 2014] for a recent presentation of the technical details, and [Koellner, 2006], [Maddy, 2011], and [Koellner, 2014] for a philosophical discussion. 15There are also versions of determinacy for real-valued games, or games of longer length. We put aside these issues here. 16See, for example, [Maddy, 2011] and [Welch, 2017]. 6 ory ZFC-Powerset+V = H(ω1)+PD).17 Moreover, whilst it is a theorem of ZFC that not all games are determined, certain restricted forms can be proved from large cardinals. For example: Fact. Borel Determinacy is provable in ZFC, but any proof requires ω1many applications of the Powerset Axiom. Fact. Analytic Determinacy is provable in ZFC+"There exists a measurable cardinal", but is independent from ZFC. Fact. Projective Determinacy is provable in ZFC+ "For every n ∈ N, there are n-many Woodin cardinals", but is independent from ZFC+ "There exists a measurable cardinal". Fact. The Axiom of Determinacy for L(R) is provable in ZFC+ "There are ω-many Woodin cardinals with a measurable above them all", but is not provable in ZFC+ "For every n ∈ N, there are n-many Woodin cardinals" Again, we will not go through the definitions of Borel, Analytic, Projective, or L(R) here. Suffice to say, each admits progressively more sets of reals with a more permissive notion of definability, and each is resolved by strictly stronger large cardinal axioms. Some authors have pointed out that it may well be that our 'best' theory of sets uses axioms of definable determinacy.18 Key to large cardinals is that they are often seen as species of maximality principles. For example, Gödel famously wrote (concerning small large cardinals like inaccessibles, Mahlos etc.): "...the axioms of set theory by no means form a system closed in itself, but, quite on the contrary, the very concept of set on which they are based suggests their extension by new axioms which assert the existence of still further iterations of the operation "set of". These axioms can also be formulated as propositions asserting the existence of very great cardinal numbers or (which is the same) of sets having these cardinal numbers." ([Gödel, 1947], p. 181) 17[Koellner, 2014] provides a detailed survey of the literature here, and is quick to point out that axioms of definable determinacy seem to be the consequence of any strong 'natural' theory extending ZFC (e.g. ZFC+PFA). Given the focus of this paper, we shall concern ourselves only with the argument from large cardinals. 18See, for example, [Woodin, 2001]. 7 Here, we see Gödel argue that the postulation of small large cardinals serves as a good way of asserting that the universe of sets contains 'large' sets.19 We can now summarise the following points from our discussion of large cardinals: (1.) Large cardinals appear to be linearly ordered by consistency strength (and hence are the standard indicies of consistency strength). (2.) They are used to interpret theories in 'natural' contexts (i.e. they maximise interpretive power). (3.) They are used in various technical model-building constructions in inner model theory. (4.) They can be used to prove axioms of definable determinacy. (5.) They are often regarded as species of 'maximality' axiom. In the rest of the paper, I will first argue that large cardinals can appear restrictive from a certain perspective, and thus their status as maximality principles is questionable (i.e. I argue against (5.)). We will, however, see that their important foundational roles as outlined by (1.)–(3.) are unaffected, and that the question of their role in (4.) is still open. 1.2 The Class-Generic Inner Model Hypothesis The principle we will consider (the Class-Generic Inner Model Hypothesis) stems from absoluteness considerations; if something is satisfied in an extension of the universe then it is already satisfied in the universe (subject to terms and conditions, and in certain contexts). We will discuss this absoluteness idea in detail in §2, for now we focus on defining the principle in order to move forward with our restrictiveness arguments. Before we get going, however, it is useful to set up some terminology: Definition 4. (NBG) A width extension of a universe V is a universe V ′ such that V is an inner model of V ′ (i.e. V is a transitive model inside V ′ with the same ordinals). A width extension V ′ is proper when V is a proper inner model of V ′. 19Several other authors discuss this idea, and are sensitive to its pitfalls. See, for example, [Hauser, 2001], (p. 257) [Incurvati, 2017] (p. 162), [Maddy, 2011] (pp. 125– 126), [Drake, 1974] (p. 186). 8 We can then consider what inner models V (our universe) must contain relative to its extensions. In particular we can formulate: Definition 5. [Friedman, 2006] Let φ be a parameter-free first-order sentence. The Inner Model Hypothesis (or IMH) states that if φ is true in an inner model of a width extension of V , then φ is already true in an inner model of V . A core feature of the IMH is that it depends upon quantifying over arbitrary extensions of a universe. Initially, it is thus unclear what theory we should use to formalise it. It can be formulated as about countable transitive models20 or (using well-founded top-extensions of V ) as about infinitary logics21, or can be coded using a variant of MorseKelley class theory22. Since we want to consider an axiom that is easily formalisable across a range of possible perspectives, we shall consider a modified version of the IMH that is formalisable in NBG: Definition 6. (NBG) Let (V ,∈, C) be a NBG structure. The Class-Generic Inner Model Hypothesis (or CIMH) is the claim that if a (first-order, parameter free) sentence φ holds in an inner model of a tame class forcing extension (V [G],∈, C[G]) (where where V [G] consists of the interpretations of set-names in V usingG, and C[G] consists of the interpretations of class-names in C using G), then φ holds in an inner model of V . How do we know that this can be properly formalised in NBG? Since forcing relations are definable for tame class forcings, the following way of expressing the CIMH is equivalent: Definition 7. (NBG) (V ,∈, C) satisfies the Absolute Class-Generic Inner Model Hypothesis (or CIMH ) iff whenever P ⊂ V is a tame class forcing, and φ is a parameter-free first-order sentence, then if there is a p ∈ P such that p P "φ is true in an inner model" then φ is true in an inner model of V . In this way, the Class-Generic Inner Model Hypothesis can be formalised in NBG without quantifying directly over extensions. Even a believer in just one maximal, universe of sets, for example, could consider the CIMH as a possible axiom candidate, since presumably they accept the use of NBG class theory.23 The question then of whether 20See here [Arrigoni and Friedman, 2013]. 21See here [Antos et al., 2015], [Barton and Friedman, 2017]. 22In fact, a variant of NBG + Σ11-Comprehension is enough, see [Antos et al., F]. 23A salient point here is that for any modelM = (M ,∈) |= ZFC, NBG is satisfied by any (M ,∈,Def(M)), whereDef(M) are the definable classes ofM. A believer in one universe of sets would thus have to reject the use of definable classes in rejecting NBG, and would thereby give up on a large amount of standard set theory. 9 the CIMH is truth-evaluable is thus not dependent upon ontological perspective.24 Since they are formally equivalent, we will drop the distinction between the CIMH and CIMH from here on out. 1.3 Restrictiveness and large cardinals As we will now see, the CIMH can be used to obtain theories that suggest that some large cardinal axioms are restrictive. The core points we'll see are: (1.) The CIMH implies the negation of large cardinal axioms, even some of the weakest such principles. (2.) The CIMH nonetheless validates the consistency in inner models of large cardinals up to the level of many measurable cardinals. (3.) The CIMH can only be interpreted in 'impoverished' contexts using theories incorporating large cardinals. We deal with these points in turn. (1.) Anti-large cardinal properties of the IMH were noticed early on.25 Many results using the full IMH can be incorporated to the current context, since they only require tame class forcings. For instance, we can immediately identify: Theorem. [Friedman, 2006] (NBG) If the Class-Generic Inner Model Hypothesis holds, there are no inaccessible cardinals in V . Given acceptance of the CIMH, this would mean that there could be no (significant) large cardinals in V . However, the existence of large cardinals in inner models is positively implied: Theorem 8. [Friedman et al., 2008] (NBG) The Class-Generic Inner Model Hypothesis implies that there is an inner model with measurable cardinals of arbitrarily large Mitchell order.26 Thus, while the Inner Model Hypothesis does not permit the existence of large cardinals in V , it does vindicate their existence in inner models. By contrast, we can prove the consistency of the IMH (and hence the CIMH) from large cardinals: 24Of course, one might worry that the natural reading of the CIMH is in terms of quantifying over extensions, whatever the coding possibilities. See [Barton, 2019] for discussion of this point. 25See here [Friedman, 2006], Theorem 15. 26The Mitchell ordering is a way of ordering the normal measures on a measurable cardinal. Roughly, it corresponds to the strength of the measure, where a measure U1 is below another U2 in the Mitchell order if U1 belongs to the ultrapower obtained through U2. See [Jech, 2002] Ch. 19. 10 Theorem 9. [Friedman et al., 2008] (ZFC) Assuming the consistency of the existence of a Woodin cardinal with an inaccessible above, the Inner Model Hypothesis is consistent. A remark about the proof will be useful for motivating our discussion. For a real x, letMx be the least transitive model of ZFC containing x. By collapsing the Woodin cardinal to ω, and using Σ12-Determinacy and the (preserved) inaccessible in the forcing extension, one can find a Turing degree d such that (Md,∈,Def(Md)) satisfies the IMH. The core point to retain is the following: The IMH-satisfying structure we find in the proof is small (in that it is countable). We thus have a rough guide as to the consistency strength of the Inner Model Hypothesis (somewhere between many measurables and a Woodin with an inaccessible above). But now there is something of a stand off between the friend of large cardinals and the supporter of the CIMH. The friend of large cardinals looks at the supporter of the CIMH and thinks that her theory is true in small countable transitive models, and certainly does not hold in the universe. The supporter of the CIMH, on the other hand, looks at the friend of large cardinals and thinks that his theory can only be true when we leave out some subsets that destroy the inaccessibility of particular cardinals in V . Is there any way to resolve this stand off? There is at least one technically precise sense in which we can say that the CIMH-theorist is in better shape. We will use [Maddy, 1998]'s notion of theories maximizing over one another and (and some being restrictive on these grounds). Her idea is that one set theory T1 maximises over another T2 (and hence shows it to be restrictive) when one can use T1 to provably find an interpretation of T2 in an appropriately 'nice' context, but not vice versa, and the two theories are jointly inconsistent with one another. More precisely, Maddy begins with the following definition. Definition 10. [Maddy, 1998] A theory T shows φ is an inner model iff there is a formula φ in one free variable such that: (i) For all σ in ZFC, T ` σφ (i.e. σ holds relative to the φ-satisfiers). (ii) T ` ∀αφ(α) or T ` ∃κ(("κ is inaccessible") ∧ ∀α(α < κ → φ(α))) (i.e. the φ-satisfiers either contain all ordinals, or all ordinals up to some inaccessible), and (iii) T ` ∀x∀y((x ∈ y ∧ φ(y)) → φ(x)) (i.e. φ defines a transitive interpretation). 11 This definition serves to specify the interpretations we are interested in; proper class inner models and truncations thereof at inaccessibles. She then defines: Definition 11. [Maddy, 1998] φ is a fair interpretation of T1 in T2 iff: (i) T2 shows φ is an inner model, and (ii) For all σ in T1, T2 ` σφ. i.e. a fair interpretation of one theory T1 in another T2 is provided by finding some φ defining an inner model (or truncation thereof) in T2 that satisfies T1. Maddy then goes on to define what it means for a theory to maximise over another. First, she thinks that there should be new isomorphism types outside the interpretation, which, in the presence of Foundation, amounts to the existence of sets not satisfying φ: Definition 12. [Maddy, 1998] T2 maximizes over T1 iff there is a φ such that: (i) φ is a fair interpretation of T1 in T2, and (ii) T2 ` ∃x¬φ(x). With this idea of maximisation in play, she next sets up some additional definitions to make sure that weak but unrestrictive theories, whilst not maximising, do not count as restrictive. This is dealt with by the following definitions. Definition 13. [Maddy, 1998] T2 properly maximizes over T1 iff T2 maximizes over T1 but not vice versa. Definition 14. [Maddy, 1998] T2 inconsistently maximizes over T1 iff T2 properly maximises over T1 and T2 is inconsistent with T1. Definition 15. [Maddy, 1998] T2 strongly maximizes over T1 iff T2 inconsistently maximizes over T1, and there is no consistent T3 extending T1 that properly maximizes over T2. Thus we have a picture on which one theory T2 (strongly) maximises over T1 when we can prove in T2 that a certain formula φ defines a proper inner model (or truncation thereof), satisfying T1, and such that we cannot extend T1 to a theory capable of finding such an interpretation for T2. If there is a theory T2 strongly maximising over 12 T1, then we say that T1 is Maddy-restrictive27. A natural example here is contrasting the theories ZFC+V = L and ZFC+"There exists a measurable cardinal". The latter strongly maximises over the former, since we can always build L to find a model of ZFC + V = L, but there are no fair interpretations with measurable cardinals under V = L (though they can exist in other kinds of model, e.g. countable). Maddy's definitions are not without their problems (notably some false negatives and positives), a fact which Maddy herself is admirably transparent about.28 Subsequent developments of the notion have been considered by Löwe and Incurvati.29 Our point here is not that Maddy's definitions provide the definitive word on restrictiveness, but rather that they provide an interesting perspective on which the rough ideas sketched earlier (concerning the stand-off) could be made precise, if one so desired. First, the CIMH. The CIMH is formulated in NBG, and since Maddy's formulation is intended to apply only to first-order set theories, we require some modification.30 It is, nonetheless, possible to prove the following: Proposition 16. (NBG) Let ZFCCIMH be the first-order part of NBG + CIMH (i.e. the theory restricted to all sentences with no class variables or parameters). Then ZFCCIMH strongly maximises over ZFC+"There exist α-many measurables" for every α. Proof. We first need to show that ZFCCIMH shows that some φ is an inner model with α-many measurables, for any desired α (let α be fixed from now on). Theorem 2 of [Friedman et al., 2008] establishes that NBG+CIMH proves that there is a definable inner model with measurable cardinals of arbitrarily large Mitchell order.31 Thus, by going high enough in the Mitchell order, ZFCCIMH provides a fair interpretation of ZFC+"There exist α-many measurables". 27We use the term 'Maddy-restrictive' as it is a substantial open question whether or not Maddy-restrictive-ness and restrictiveness are coextensive. 28In the original [Maddy, 1998]. 29See here [Löwe, 2001], [Löwe, 2003], and [Incurvati and Löwe, 2016] (which responds to some criticisms of [Hamkins, 2014]). 30A brief note on nomenclature: In set theory is usual to refer to theories that do not have class variables as first-order, and those that do as second-order. This is despite the fact that, strictly speaking, NBG and its cousins are two-sorted firstorder theories, even if they could be given a second-order formulation in which we quantify into predicate position. 31Note: Friedman, Welch, and Woodin are explicit about the fact that none of their theorems depend on arbitrary outer models, but rather could be formulated in terms of the CIMH. See [Friedman et al., 2008] pp. 391–392. 13 Moreover ZFCCIMH also maximises over ZFC+"There exist α-many measurables", since there are always sets outside this interpretation. In particular, since ZFCCIMH implies that there are no inaccessible cardinals, for any particular β that is measurable in our interpretation, the interpretation misses out the sets witnessing the accessibility of β. Clearly, the two theories are also inconsistent with one another. It just remains to show that ZFC+"There exist α-many measurables" does not maximise over ZFCCIMH (for inconsistent maximisation), nor can any consistent extension (for strong maximisation). These are established by the following claim: Claim 17. No consistent extension of ZFC+"There exist α-many measurables" can provide a fair interpretation of ZFCCIMH. To show this, we need to show that under any extension of ZFC+"There exist α-many measurables", none of (i) there is an inner model of ZFCCIMH, (ii) there is a truncation at an inaccessible with ZFCCIMH, or (iii) there is a truncation at an inaccessible of an inner model with ZFCCIMH, are possible. For (i) it suffices to note that being accessible is upwards absolute. Since all cardinals are accessible under ZFCCIMH, if ZFCCIMH holds in an inner model, then all cardinals are accessible, ruling out (i). For (ii) and (iii) we first note that no truncation Vκ for κ above the least inaccessible β can satisfy ZFCCIMH, since then Vκ would see the inaccessibility of β. Nor can such a Vκ have an inner model satisfying ZFCCIMH since inaccessibility is downwards absolute and so the inner model would still see the inaccessibility of β. The only possible case is thus when κ is the least inaccessible cardinal. If this holds, then (Vκ,∈,P(Vκ)) |= MK and hence contains a proper class of worldly cardinals32. However, the CIMH implies that there is a definable inner model of the form L[r], where r is a real, with no worldly cardinals (see Theorem 15 of [Friedman, 2006]). We argue for a contradiction by showing (via an argument due to Joel-David Hamkins) that worldliness is downwards absolute to models of the form L[r], for r a real. Let α < κ be a worldly cardinal in Vκ. Since r ∈ Vα and Vα |= ZFC, it is a standard theorem of relative constructibility33 that (Lα[r]) Vα |= ZFC. We now just need to check that (Lα[r])Vα = (Vα)Lκ[r], but this follows from the fact that α is a i-fixed point (a consequence of the worldliness of α) in both Vκ and hence Lκ[r]. Thus (Vα)Lκ[r] |= ZFC contradicting the claim that Lκ[r] contains no worldly cardinals, and so if Vκ is inaccessible then Vκ cannot satisfy the CIMH. This deals with (ii). For (iii) note that any inner model M of Vκ such that M |= ZFCCIMH 32β is worldly iff Vβ |= ZFC. 33See Theorem 13.22 on p. 192 of [Jech, 2002]. 14 will have to contain a model of the form Lκ[r] containing no worldly cardinals. Since r is also in Vκ if it is in M, we can again build Lκ[r] to obtain a Lκ[r] ⊆ Vκ with no worldly cardinals; a contradiction. This proves Claim 17 and hence Proposition 16.34 Remark 18. The downward absoluteness of worldly cardinals to inner models of the form L[r] for r a real is especially interesting for two related reasons. First, it shows that the CIMH prohibits not just the existence of inaccessible cardinals in V , but worldly cardinals too. Secondly, it shows that ZFCCIMH will strongly maximise over any natural extension of ZFC of weaker consistency strength (witnessed by a fair interpretation in ZFCCIMH) that proves "There exists a worldly cardinal". We can thus see that the CIMH has maximising properties with respect to large cardinals, and shows them to be restrictive in a precise sense. Of course, for stronger large cardinals that are capable of proving the CIMH consistent (e.g. anything stronger than the existence of a Woodin cardinal with an inaccessible above), it is not possible to provide a fair interpretation of those large cardinals within ZFCCIMH alone, and so neither strongly maximizes over the other. However, if we were to augment our theory of NBG + CIMH (somewhat artificially) with the claim that there is a first-order definable inner model of ZFC with the relevant large cardinals, then parallel reasoning yields the same restrictiveness result. One could do this, for example, by asserting the existence of mice; small structures that allow us to construct inner models for large cardinals by iterated ultrapowers. If we have a mouse N whose iterated ultrapower generates an inner model of M |= φ for some large cardinal φ, the first-order part of the theory NBG+CIMH+"N exists" will strongly maximise over ZFC+ φ as before, assuming that the existence of the relevant mouse is consistent with the CIMH. There some limitations here since; (i) the CIMH implies that the reals are not closed under ] and PD is false,35 and (ii) for every n the existence of mice generating n-many Woodin cardinals is equivalent to PD. We thus cannot go as far as ω-many Woodin cardinals using this tactic. These complications aside, for many large cardinals the restrictiveness result does hold, and we'll return to these issues in §3. 34I am grateful to Kameryn Williams and Victoria Gitman for some useful discussions concerning this proof. 35This also holds in virtue of Theorem 15 in [Friedman, 2006]. 15 2 The Absoluteness Conception of Maximality We have reached a point where: (1.) We have seen that there are axioms (e.g. CIMH) that have anti-large cardinal properties. (2.) There is an apparent standoff: From the perspective of the advocate of large cardinals the CIMH appears to consider only very small transitive models, and from the perspective of the supporter of the CIMH, the truth of large cardinal axioms requires missing out subsets that witness accessibility and/or non-worldliness. (3.) If we analyse this debate in terms of Maddy's notion of restrictiveness, it is the large cardinal axioms, at least up to the level of many measurable cardinals, that appear restrictive. We are thus at a point where large cardinals are viewed as restrictive given theories based on the CIMH. However, it is one thing to provide an axiom for which the restrictiveness results hold, and another to argue that said axiom is a reasonable one. Maddy herself is aware that her notion of restrictiveness delivers far too many false-positives when 'dud' theories are considered. So, is the CIMH (and the first-order theory it generates) a 'dud'? In this section I argue that the CIMH can be motivated along similar lines to bounded forcing axioms via considerations of the richness of the subset forming operation. In seeing this we shall use the idea of absoluteness (in width) which is appealed to by both the friend of bounded forcing axioms and the supporter of the CIMH. We'll see though that these are calibrated in very different ways. One can formulate a general template for a width-absoluteness principle as follows: Width Absoluteness Principles. Let Γ be a class of sentences in some appropriate logic. If φ ∈ Γ is true in some appropriate extension of V with the same ordinals (i.e. a width extension) then φ is already realised in some appropriate structure contained in V . Clearly the idea of a width absoluteness principle is schematically formulated, and the content a width absoluteness principle has will be relative to the logical resources, extensions, and internal structures allowed. Some precedents exist for justification of axioms by this means. 16 Bounded forcing axioms are a good example here. To facilitate understanding of the ideas later in this section, we first provide a very coarse and intuitive sketch of the forcing technique. Forcing, loosely speaking, is a way of adding subsets of sets to certain kinds of model. For some model M and atomless partial order P ∈ M, we (via ways of naming possible sets and evaluating these names) add a set G that intersects every dense set of P in M.36 The resulting model (often denoted by 'M[G]'), can be thought of as the smallest object one gets when one adds G to M and closes under the operations definable in M. A forcing axiom expresses the claim that the universe has been saturated under forcing for certain kinds of partial order and families of dense sets. For example we have the following axiom: Definition. Let κ be an infinite cardinal. MA(κ) is the statement that for any forcing poset P in which all antichains are countable (i.e. P has the countable chain condition), and any family of dense sets D such that |D| ≤ κ, there is a filter G on P such that if D ∈ D is a dense subset of P, then G ∩D 6= ∅. Definition. Martin's Axiom (or just MA) is the statement that for every κ smaller than the cardinality of the continuum, MA(κ) holds. One can think of Martin's axiom in the following way: The universe has been saturated under forcing for all posets with a certain chain condition and less-than-continuum-sized families of dense sets. There are several kinds of forcing axiom, each corresponding to different permissions on the kind of forcing poset allowed (the countable chain condition is quite a restrictive requirement). Many of these have interesting consequences for the study of independence, notably many (e.g. the Proper Forcing Axiom) imply that CH is false and that in fact 2א0 = א2. It is, however, unclear exactly why we should accept forcing axioms. As it stands, though they seem to correspond to some rough idea of 'saturating' under forcing, they are nonetheless combinatorially characterised principles, and it is not clear if this idea can be cashed out in more foundational terms.37 36A subtle philosophical and technical question is exactly which models are extendible in width (e.g. must the model be countable?) and how we should understand the metamathematics of this practice, given different ontological outlooks. See [Barton, 2019] for discussion. 37There are those that think that forcing axioms are well-justified just on the basis of the saturation idea. Magidor, for example, argues: Forcing axioms like Martin's Axiom (MA), the Proper Forcing Axiom 17 One idea is to capture some of the content of forcing axioms by assimilating them under principles of width absoluteness. This project has been developed by Bagaria who provides the following characterisations of bounded forcing axioms: Definition. [Bagaria, 1997] (ZFC) Absolute-MA. We say that V satisfies Absolute-MA iff whenever V [G] is a generic extension of V by a partial order P with the countable chain condition in V , and φ(x) is a Σ1(P(ω1)) formula (i.e. a first-order formula containing only parameters from P(ω1)), if V [G] |= ∃xφ(x) then there is a y in V such that φ(y). and we can characterise the Bounded Proper Forcing Axiom (BPFA) as follows: Definition. [Bagaria, 2000] (ZFC) Absolute-BPFA. We say that V satisfies Absolute-BPFA iff whenever φ is a Σ1 sentence with parameters from H(ω2), if φ holds a forcing extension V [G] obtained by proper forcing, then φ holds in V . and Bounded Martin's Maximum (BMM): Definition. [Bagaria, 2000] (ZFC) Absolute-BMM. We say that V satisfies Absolute-BMM iff whenever φ is a Σ1 sentence with parameters from H(ω2), if φ holds a forcing extension V [G] obtained by a forcing P that preserves stationary subsets of ω1, then φ holds in V . Each of these axioms shows how one can encapsulate bounded forcing axioms using absoluteness principles. One might think that this provides evidence for their truth, or at least their naturalness: In the case of MA and some weaker forms of PFA and MM, some justification for their being taken as true axioms is (PFA), Martin's Maximum (MM) and other variations were very successful in settling many independent problems. The intuitive motivation for all of them is that the universe of sets is as rich as possible, or at the slogan level: A set [whose] existence is possible and there is no clear obstruction to its existence [exists]... ...What do we mean by "possible"? I think that a good approximation is "can be forced to [exist]"... I consider forcing axioms as an attempt to try and get a consistent approximation to the above intuitive principle by restricting the properties we talk about and the the forcing extensions we use. ([Magidor, U], pp. 15–16) Magidor is clear that the idea is rough, and sees forcing axioms as a way of making this precise. However, it seems that his motivations apply equally well to the idea of width absoluteness, which is the focus of this paper. 18 based on the fact that they are equivalent to principles of generic absoluteness. That is, they assert, under certain restrictions that are necessary to avoid inconsistency, that everything that might exist, does exist. More precisely, if some set having certain properties could be forced to exist over V , then a set having the same properties already exists (in V ). ([Bagaria, 2008], pp. 319–320) These formulations and remarks make it particularly perspicuous the sense in which some bounded forcing axioms can be thought of as maximising the universe under 'possible' sets; if we could force there to be a set of kind φ (for a particular kind of φ and P), one already exists in V .38 There is a clear sense in which such an intuition corresponds to a natural idea about mathematics: If it is possible to have an object such that φ, then there actually is such an object since mathematics should not be constrained by the limits of what is actual rather than possible. Importantly for us, the CIMH is clearly a kind of width absoluteness principle, asserting that anything true in an inner model of an outer model is already true in an inner model of V . Moreover, it conforms to criteria laid out by Bagaria (in [Bagaria, 2005]) on what it is to be a natural axiom of set theory. His criteria (which he calls meta-axioms of set theory) he terms Consistency, Maximality, and Fairness.39 We look at each of them in turn. First: (Consistency) The new axiom should be consistent with ZFC. By the results of [Friedman et al., 2008], if the existence of a Woodin cardinal with an inaccessible above is consistent, then the CIMH is consistent. Thus, the CIMH passes this test if certain large cardinal axioms are consistent. Secondly we have: (Maximality) The more sets the axiom asserts to exist, the better. 38For some discussion of the coding of Absolute-MA (and similar principles) for the philosopher inclined towards a "universist" picture of set-theoretic ontology see [Barton, 2019] and [Antos et al., F]. . 39He also mentions the criterion of Success for evaluating axioms determined to be natural on the basis of Consistency, Maximality, and Fairness. I won't discuss this here since (a) I have reservations about how we assess the 'success' of an axiom (see [Barton et al., S]), and (b) at this stage, we're just assessing whether or not the CIMH is a 'dud' for the purposes of the restrictiveness argument, and arguing that is natural is presumably sufficient for showing non-dud-ness. In any case, the CIMH has several interesting consequences, and provides a cohesive (if controversial) perspective on the nature of V , and so is successful in some sense. 19 Bagaria acknowledges that this criteria is somewhat vague, and makes it precise as follows: To attain a more concrete and useful form of the Maximality criterion it will be convenient to think about maximality in terms of models. Namely, suppose V is the universe of all sets as given by ZFC, and think of V as being properly contained in an ideal larger universe W which also satisfies ZFC and contains, of course, some sets that do not belong to V-and it may even contain V itself as a set-and whose existence, therefore, cannot be proved in ZFC alone. Now the new axiom should imply that some of those sets existing in W already exist in V , i.e., that some existential statements that hold in W hold also in V . [Bagaria, 2005] Bagaria thus holds that we should cash out maximality precisely in terms of a form of Width Absoluteness, asserting that existential sentences true in extensions are already true in V . As Bagaria notes, one cannot have such a principle without some restriction, since both CH and¬CH can both be formulated as existential sentences; the former by postulating the existence of sets of reals and the latter by asserting that functions exist between P(ω) and subsets thereof. In order to maintain consistency, Bagaria recommends a restriction to Σ1-sentences. Whilst the CIMH is not exactly of this form, it is close, and instead of restricting to Σ1-sentences, we obtain (probable) consistency by asserting that sentences that are realisable in tame class forcing extension are already realised in inner models of V . Moreover, if we allow predicative second-order quantification there are existential formulations of the CIMH that do have a formulation in terms of Σ11-sentences. For example we can characterise the CIMH using the following definition: Definition 19. (NBG) A formula is persistent-Σ11 iff it is of the following form: (∃M)("M is a transitive class"∧M |= ψ) where ψ is first-order. Definition 20. (NBG) Tame parameter-free persistent Σ11-absoluteness is the claim that if φ is persistent-Σ11 and true in a tame class-generic extension of V , then φ is true in V . Theorem 21. [Friedman, 2006] (NBG) The CIMH is equivalent to tame parameter-free persistent Σ11-absoluteness. 20 In this way, we can view the CIMH as a generalisation of the following theorem of ZFC (as [Friedman, 2006] notes): Theorem 22. (ZFC) Parameter-Free Lévy-Shoenfield Absoluteness. Let φ be a parameter-free Σ1-sentence. If φ is true in an outer model of V , then φ is true in V . Thus the CIMH can be thought of as a principle along the lines that Bagaria suggests-asserting that anything (of a particular kind) that 'could' have existed already has a witness. Moreover, it does so by generalising an idea already present in ZFC. In this respect, it resembles a reflection principle for height: A standard principle of absoluteness true in ZFC is generalised to a language of higher-order.40 Bagaria's third condition concerns how maximality through absoluteness is applied. Given that there are no a priori reasons for accepting one existential statement true in some extension over another, we should accept all statements of the same complexity. This motivates the following criterion: (Fairness) One should not discriminate against sentences of the same logical complexity and (where parameters are concerned) one should not discriminate against sets of the same complexity. I contend that the CIMH also satisfies the Fairness condition, or at least comes very close. Since the CIMH does not allow the use of parameters, the constraint to not discriminate against different parameters is vacuously satisfied.41 Concerning the discrimination against sentences, the usual version of the CIMH concerns sentences of arbitrary complexity, and so does not discriminate on these grounds. Of course one might then object that the usual version of the CIMH, whilst it does not discriminate in terms of Fairness, does do so in terms of Maximality, as formulated by Bagaria, since it reflects truth in outer models to inner model of V , not V itself. On the other hand, the formulation of the CIMH in terms of tame parameter-free persistent Σ11absoluteness, whilst it does not discriminate on the basis of Maximality (since it reflects directly to truth in V ), does discriminate on the basis of only reflecting the persistent Σ11-sentences, rather than all of them. 40See [Barton et al., 2020] for an examination of other width reflection principles, and some explanations of the differences between height and width reflection. 41The use of parameters in the CIMH is prohibited because one could quickly collapse ω1 in an inner model and hence in V , contradicting ZFC. Nonetheless, there are variants of the IMH that consider the careful introduction of parameters, such as the Strong Inner Model Hypothesis, see [Friedman, 2006]. 21 I think there are a couple of responses here. The first point to bear in mind is that the current dialectical situation is trying to determine whether or not the CIMH is a dud, in order to run the restrictiveness argument. In this context, we might think that even if the CIMH does not exactly satisfy Bagaria's requirements, it does come desperately close, and this is perhaps sufficient for it to clear the bar of non-dudness. However, we might also point out that there are other respects in which the CIMH is less discriminatory than bounded forcing axioms. In particular, all the bounded forcing axioms that Bagaria considers discriminate against tame class forcing extensions, and we might think that fairness in the kind of extension considered is a requirement overlooked by Bagaria. In this way the CIMH incorporates a more liberal and less discriminatory account of possibility than its bounded (distant) cousins.42 I thus think that the CIMH is minimally in the running as a contender for an axiom, albeit a controversial one, at least insofar as one accepts NBG class theory. Of course one could reject the use of NBG, but this strikes me as an overly harsh restriction (though [Bagaria, 2005] is keen to make sure all axioms are first-order). For the sake of argument, let us assume from this point on that the CIMH is a natural enough axiom of set theory that can be motivated along similar lines to bounded forcing axioms. Immediately though, we run into an apparent problem. Given that both the CIMH and bounded forcing axioms represent natural axioms of set theory, we may wish to use them in tandem. However, this is not possible: Proposition 23. (NBG) The CIMH is inconsistent with the BPFA (and hence BMM). Proof. Say that a cardinal κ is reflecting iff κ is regular and Vκ Σ2 V . [Goldstern and Shelah, 1995] showed that over ZFC, BPFA implies that ωV2 is reflecting in L, and their arguments hold for any model of the form L[x] where x is a real. Thus, under BPFA, any inner model of 42As I have argued elsewhere (with Carolin Antos and Sy-David Friedman in [Antos et al., F]) we might think that set-forcing is a relatively mild kind of extension. Bukovsky's Theorem (in [Bukovský, 1973]) states that if M an inner model of N definable in N, and κ a regular uncountable cardinal in M, then M κ-globally covers N if and only if N is a κ-c.c. set-generic extension of M. We might think that this theorem suggests that set-forcing is relatively mild, since if one model is a set forcing extension of another (by some κ-c.c. forcing), then every function in the extension is already κ-covered by some function in the ground model, which stands in contrast to class forcing (though, whether there could be an analogue for class forcing is still open). See [Friedman et al., F] for further discussion of the Bukovsky Theorem. 22 the form L[x] contains a reflecting cardinal (and hence an inaccessible) namely ωV2 . This straightforwardly contradicts the claim that the CIMH implies that there is a model of the form L[x] that contains no inaccessibles. What is going on here? The key issue is that any width absoluteness principle depends on a careful calibration between the following factors:43 (1.) What extensions you consider for width absoluteness (e.g. set forcing extensions, tame class forcing extensions, arbitrary extensions). (2.) What complexity of sentences you reflect, and in what language. (3.) What parameters you allow in the sentences to be reflected. (4.) Where we reflect the sentences (e.g. to V , to an inner model M ⊆ V , to a structure of the form Hκ, etc.). The problem is that over-generalisation across different areas will result in inconsistency. It is obvious, for instance, that allowing arbitrary parameters and arbitrary set forcing extensions is immediately inconsistent by collapsing ω1. Or that having Σ2-sentences reflected to V is inconsistent (since both CH and ¬CH are Σ2). More generally, we know that no two transitive models M and N with the same ordinals can be fully Σ1-elementary (with parameters) in one another, since   Σ143I am grateful to Matteo Viale for discussion of the nature of the calibration of width absoluteness principles. Whilst a full discussion of the whole space of possibilities for absoluteness principles is outside the scope of this article, some alternatives deserve mentioning. [Bagaria, 2006] provides a detailed survey of how the various variables of principles of generic absoluteness can be tweaked to yield different results, and how the consequences of the absoluteness principles depend on the ambient properties of the model. In this vein, Viale has provided a fine-grained analysis of various forcing axioms including (a) how Martin's Maximum can be strengthened and how this relates to category forcings, (b) how many forcing axioms can be characterised as principles of resurrection (c) how many principles of set theory such as AC, Łoś' Theorem, and some large cardinals, can be characterised as forcing axioms, and (c) how these results are able to yield the kind of absoluteness suggested as desirable by Bagaria. See [Viale, 2016], [Viale, 2016a], [Viale, 2016b] for these results. A different approach is suggested by [Venturi, 2020] and taken up by [Venturi and Viale, 2019] and [Viale, 2020]; to use Robinson infinite forcing in combination with an analysis of model completion and model companionship in characterising absoluteness properties. 23 elementarity entails that V Mα = V Nα for every α.44 Combining the BPFA with the CIMH is, unfortunately, asking for too much; the absoluteness given by BPFA produces large cardinals in all models of the form L[x], but the absoluteness given by the CIMH kills large cardinals in at least one such model. Is there a way to break the deadlock? Again, using Maddyrestrictiveness, we can make some progress: Proposition 24. (NBG) The CIMH strongly maximizes over the BPFA, in the sense that ZFCCIMH strongly maximizes over ZFC + BPFA. Proof. We first need to show that ZFCCIMH can provide a fair interpretation of ZFC+BPFA (this will immediately give us the maximzation of ZFCCIMH over ZFC+BPFA since they are mutually inconsistent). As ZFCCIMH implies the existence of 0], within L we have a reflecting cardinal κ (i.e. a regular cardinal such that Vκ Σ2 V , and in this case an L-regular cardinal such that V Lκ 4Σ2 L). [Goldstern and Shelah, 1995] showed that if κ is reflecting, then there is a proper forcing iteration P ⊆ Vκ of length κ forcing BPFA. There is then, within V , and Lgeneric G for the Goldstern-Shelah forcing over L, and L[G] is then an inner model (and hence fair interpretation) of ZFC+BPFA in ZFCCIMH. Since BPFA is inconsistent with ZFCCIMH, we get maximization immediately, and inconsistent maximization if we can show that ZFC+BPFA does not maximize over ZFCCIMH. We prove this by showing that ZFC+BPFA cannot provide a fair interpretation of ZFCCIMH. By [Goldstern and Shelah, 1995], we know that over ZFC, BPFA implies that ωV2 is reflecting in L, and their arguments hold for any model of the form L[x] where x is a real. Thus, under BPFA, any inner model of the form L[x] contains an inaccessible (and hence a reflecting cardinal) namely ωV2 . This straightforwardly contradicts the claim that the CIMH implies that there is a model of the form L[x] that contains no inaccessibles, and the L[x] of any inner model (possibly satisfying the CIMH) is also the L[x] of V (by the absoluteness of the construction of L[x]). Clearly, truncation at an inaccessible leaves the argument unaffected. For exactly this reason, no consistent extension of ZFC+BPFA can maximise over ZFCCIMH, since any extension of ZFC+BPFA proves that every model of the form L[x] contains a reflecting cardinal, by the BPFA alone. We therefore get the strong maximization of ZFCCIMH over ZFC+BPFA for free. 44These points, as well as some other easy impossibility results, are made by [Bagaria, 2006], §3. For a proof of the folklore result that   Σ1-elementarity entails identity for transitive models with the same ordinals, see Observation 2.4 of [Barton et al., 2020]. 24 Thus, despite the inconsistency between the CIMH and BPFA, the CIMH appears appears to Maddy-maximize over the BPFA. Does the CIMH strongly maximize over BMM? The following theorem indicates that it does not: Theorem. [Schindler, 2006] (ZFC) BMM implies that for every set X there is an inner model with a strong cardinal containing X . BMM thus has greater consistency strength than the CIMH, and so the CIMH cannot maximize over BMM. However, the fact that the CIMH implies the existence of a model of the form L[x] with no worldly cardinals has ramifications for interactions with BMM and other generic absoluteness principles (such as those mentioned above). We can immediately identify: Proposition 25. No theory T that implies that there is an inaccessible (or even worldly) cardinal in L[x] for every real x can ever maximise over ZFCCIMH. Hence, if we extend ZFCCIMH to a consistent extension ZFCCIMH∗ that proves the existence of a definable inner model for T, ZFCCIMH∗ will strongly maximize over T. Proof. By assumption, any such ZFCCIMH∗ inconsistently maximizes over T. But also by assumption, no consistent extension of T can find a fair interpretation of ZFCCIMH∗ (exactly as in Proposition 24), and so we have strong maximization. Since BMM is exactly one such T, if we find a reasonable extension of ZFCCIMH (or, just cheat by adding the axiom to NBG + CIMH that there is a definable inner model for BMM) then such an extension will strongly maximize over ZFC + BMM. Thus, whilst the CIMH is inconsistent with other width absoluteness principles, it is the other putative axioms that seem restrictive. Moreover, it is the fact that the CIMH has such strong anti-large cardinal properties (prohibiting even principles that imply that all inner models of the form L[x] for x a real have large cardinals) that gives it these maximisation properties. 3 Foundational roles of large cardinal axioms under the CIMH We are now in a position where: (a) We have seen that there is a principle, namely the CIMH, that, if true, implies that large cardinal axioms are restrictive (both intuitively and in Maddy's sense of restrictiveness). 25 (b) The CIMH can be motivated along lines similar to other principles of absoluteness such as bounded forcing axioms. (c) Though the CIMH is inconsistent with many of these principles, the CIMH maximizes over some of them, and has prospects for maximising over others if extended. We thus seem to have a legitimate perspective on set theory on which large cardinal axioms are false and restrictive, but consistent. Earlier however (§1.1) we identified the following features of large cardinals: (1.) Large cardinals appear to be linearly ordered by consistency strength (and hence are the standard indices of consistency strength). (2.) They are used to interpret theories in 'natural' contexts (i.e. they maximise interpretive power). (3.) They are used in various technical model-building constructions in inner model theory. (4.) They can be used to prove axioms of definable determinacy. (5.) They are often regarded as species of 'maximality' axiom. Our previous arguments put pressure on (5.): There are settheoretic frameworks on which large cardinal axioms, far from being maximality axioms, are in fact restrictive. In this section, we'll argue that nonetheless large cardinal axioms can still fulfil roles (1.)–(3.), and (4.) remains open. Point (1.) can be dealt with very quickly. In order to study the consistency strengths of mathematical theories, we only require that the theories be true in some model or other, not necessarily in V . More generally, there are the following 'levels' for where an axiom Φ can be true: (i) Φ could be true in V . (ii) Φ could be true in an inner model. (iii) Φ could be true in a transitive model. (iv) Φ could be true in a countable transitive model. (v) Φ could be true in some model (whatever it may be). 26 For consistency statements, any model will do, and so any of (i)–(v) are acceptable places for considering Φ. There is no obstacle to having any of (ii)–(v) for the friend of the CIMH (or any other anti-large cardinal principle). Indeed they may well want to accept the consistency (in some model or other) of ZFC+"There is a Woodin cardinal with an inaccessible above", since this allows them to prove their theory consistent. There is no incoherence here; it is just that for the friend of the CIMH, large cardinal 'axioms' form a body of false but useful principles. Point (2.) can also be dealt with reasonably easily. In order to maximise interpretive power we just need some appropriately 'nice' or 'standard' (e.g. well-founded, containing all ordinals) place where the relevant mathematics can be developed. But our earlier observations concerning the maximizing properties of the CIMH show that we can perfectly well have large cardinals in inner models, and indeed this is positively implied for many large cardinals.45 Thus there is not necessarily any loss of interpretive power; we can always assert (and often prove) that large cardinals exist in inner models, even if not in V . Thus any interpretability work that could be done using a large cardinal axiom can be done in an inner model, without requiring that the axiom be true. Since they are interrelated, let's examine (3.) (model-building) and (4.) (the case for axioms of definable determinacy) in tandem. For (3.) we should begin by noting that there are a wide variety of model building enterprises that set theorists engage in. In many cases, we try to build models that are L-like in that we can determine a rich variety of their properties (e.g. satisfying the GCH), but also satisfy some large cardinal axiom. Often such models are of the form L[E] where E is a set or a class, and in this vein we can consider L[∅] = L (the vanilla constructible hierarchy), L[M] (where M is the class of all mice-this is the Dodd-Jensen core model), L[U ] (where U is an ultrafilter on the least measurable cardinal), L[U ] (where U is a proper class of ultrafilters; one for each measurable cardinal), and so on.46 For many of these models we can simply build them in V , exactly as from the perspective of the large cardinal theorist. For example we can construct L as normal, and since the CIMH implies the existence of 0] we can build L[0]] too. There are, however, some limitations here. The CIMH implies that the reals are not closed under ], and so there is some real x for which x] (and hence L[x]]) does not exist. However, in these cases we can 45[Arrigoni and Friedman, 2013] also make this point. 46See [Mitchell, 2010] for an outline of inner model theory. 27 (if we so desire) interpret the construction as conducted within an inner model on which the reals are closed under sharp. This possibility shows how one can interpret a construction as building a smaller inner model within a proper inner model of V with the required properties.47 Within this perspective all the usual technical work can be carried out (such as comparing different ultrapower iterations and so on). In this respect, there is still a place to interpret inner model theory in a natural way. However, there is a sense then in which the CIMH provides a different picture of the kinds of L-like model that can be built from reals compared to the large cardinal theorist. For the large cardinal theorist there is often a unique real corresponding to the mouse/mice from which we want to build the model. For the friend of the CIMH the real we choose will only have its properties relative to a perspective provided by a proper inner model, and so there is not in general a unique real corresponding to the building of some L-like model.48 Whether or not this is merely a matter of taste or represents an objection is a question about which I remain agnostic. For some philosophical applications of inner model theory, however, this difference in how models relate to reals is immaterial. For example, one philosophical application of the existence of L-like models is given by John Steel who writes: Canonical inner models admit a systematic, detailed, "fine structure theory" much like Jensen's theory of L. Such a thorough and detailed description of what a universe satisfying H might look like provides evidence that H [a large cardinal axiom] is indeed consistent, for a voluble witness with an inconsistent story is more likely to contradict himself than a reticent one. ([Steel, 2014], p. 156) Steel's point is the following. Given a large cardinal axiom H , we might (rightly) be concerned about its consistency. However, if we can construct an L-like inner model MH with the requisite structure theory (often this is founded on some form of condensation) then we have a huge amount of information about MH , for example such models usually satisfy the GCH and versions of principles like ♦ and . This should give us confidence that H is consistent, since we know that if H is consistent then it is also consistent with the GCH etc. (and indeed anything that can be forced over MH whilst preserving H). We might, 47This point is also made by [Arrigoni and Friedman, 2013]. 48Though see below for some possible modifications to the CIMH that might avoid this feature. 28 therefore, expect any inconsistency encoded by H to turn up in one of these models (which would imply the inconsistency of H by modus tollens), and since we have not discovered any inconsistency in the inner model we can be more confident that H is indeed consistent. This contrasts with those large cardinals for which we do not yet have an inner model theory, since we do not have such information-rich contexts in which to examine them. We can now simply note that Steel's argument does not depend on there being a unique real in any way, it is enough for his argument to work that there is some information-rich context(s) in which H is satisfied, and these models can perfectly well all be constructed within different proper inner models. The discussion of inner models immediately brings us on to (4.) the case for axioms of definable determinacy. Whilst it is not the case that a principle having anti-large cardinal features immediately disqualifies the justificatory case for PD found in the literature, we will see that there are again limitations when it comes to the CIMH. Anti-large cardinal frameworks can incorporate axioms of definable determinacy because they do not require the literal truth of large cardinal axioms, but rather only the truth of the large cardinals axioms in inner models. Generally speaking this is where there are equivalences (rather than strict implications from the large cardinals to axioms of definable determinacy). For example49: Theorem. (Woodin) The following are equivalent: (a) Projective Determinacy (schematically rendered). (b) For every n < ω, there is a fine-structural, countably iterable inner model M such that M |= "There are n Woodin cardinals". Thus it may very well be the case that PD holds, there are plenty of Woodin cardinals in inner models, but no actual Woodin cardinals in V . More must be done to argue why the existence of such models must be explained by truth of the large cardinals, rather than the apparent consistency of the practice.50 49For a list see [Koellner, 2011]. 50This is perhaps what lies behind the following idea of Woodin: "A Set Theorist's Cosmological Principle: The large cardinal axioms for which there is an inner model theory are consistent; the corresponding predictions of unsolvability are true because the axioms are true." ([Woodin, 2011], p. 458) Woodin's idea is that on the basis of consistency statements, we can make predictions. For example, "There will be no discovery of an inconsistency in the theory 29 Nonetheless, for the specific case of the CIMH (rather than anti-large cardinal principles in general), we have some limitations. This is due to the fact that the CIMH implies that PD is false outright, because (as noted above) the CIMH implies that it is not the case that for every real x, x] exists and boldface (i.e. with parameters)   Π11-determinacy fails. In spite of this, we do have some definable determinacy; the CIMH is consistent with (and in fact implies) lightface (i.e. parameter-free) Π11determinacy.51 Moreover, it is open whether there could be CIMH-like principles with some anti-large cardinal features that are nonetheless consistent with strong axioms of definable determinacy like PD. For example, suppose that one is moved by justifications for Woodin cardinals and adopts ZFC+"There is a proper class of Woodin cardinals" as one's canonical theory of sets and one is not prepared to give up on this theory in the face of our earlier observations about restrictiveness. Suppose further that one holds that some CIMH-like principle should hold on the basis of absoluteness considerations. We might then formulate the following principle: Definition 26. (NBG) Let (V ,∈, C) be a NBG structure containing a proper class of Woodin cardinals. The Class-Generic Inner Model Hypothesis for Woodins CIMHW states that if a (first-order, parameter free) sentence φ holds in an inner model of a tame class forcing extension (V [G],∈, C[G]) containing a proper class of Woodin cardinals, then φ holds in an inner model of V . Assuming this axiom is consistent, we would have a version of the CIMH that is consistent with PD (since a proper class of Woodin cardinals implies PD), and the CIMHW trivially implies that there is such a class. The CIMHW might still have some anti-large cardinal features though. The usual ways of killing large cardinals under the CIMH involve moving to an outer model of the form L[x] such that L[x] |= ZFC, but every level Lα[x] violates ZFC. Assuming then that the existence of a proper class of Woodin cardinals can be given an inner model theory (i.e. there is a model of the form L[E] with sufficient fine structure such that L[E] |= "There is a proper class of Woodin cardinals"), the results of [Friedman, 2006] (in particular Theorem 15) might well then be generalised to show that over the base theory ZFC+"There is a proper class of Woodin cardinals", the Inner Model Hypothesis for ZFC+"There is a Woodin cardinal" in the next 10'000 years" is a prediction ratified by the truth of the theory ZFC+"There is a proper class of Woodin cardinals". I see no reason why this prediction should be explained by the truth of the large cardinal axiom rather than its consistency (possibly in an inner model). 51See [Friedman, 2018], p. 91. 30 Woodins implies that there is no inaccessible limit of Woodin cardinals in V in the presence of PD. The details appear difficult, especially since the construction of these inner models is complex, and so we leave the question open in the conclusion. However, if consistent, we might thereby obtain an axiom with some anti-large cardinal properties, but nonetheless consistent with stronger axioms of definable determinacy. 4 Open questions and concluding remarks In this paper I have argued that: (1.) There is natural set-theoretic principle of absoluteness (the CIMH) on which large cardinal axioms appear restrictive, and this can be further made precise by appealing to Maddy's notion of restrictiveness. (2.) Large cardinals can still play many of their usual foundational roles on this framework, despite their falsity. Nonetheless, there are some specific questions about how much definable determinacy is desirable. I'll close with a few philosophical upshots and directions for future research. Tension with 'height' absoluteness. Throughout this paper we've been considering principles of absoluteness (e.g. BPFA, CIMH) that are 'width-like' in the sense that they consider what is absolute between the universe and some extension of the universe with the same ordinals but different subsets. In this way, the rough motivation is to make V as 'wide' as possible by ensuring that witnesses for certain claims true in extensions exist. These contrast with 'height' absoluteness principles (often called 'reflection principles') that assert that sentences satisfied by the universe are satisfied (suitably relativised) by substructures thereof (usually some Vα). But even second-order height absoluteness (i.e. the claim that if φ(A) holds then there is a Vα such that (Vα,∈,A∩Vα) |= φVα(A) ) implies the existence of inaccessible cardinals. This shows that there is a tension between height and width absoluteness; one cannot have both in full generality.52 52This is especially interesting since certain other kinds of width-absoluteness principles-such as Woodin's results concerning the absoluteness of Th(L(R)) or the Inner Model Reflection Principles of [Barton et al., 2020]-are positively implied by large cardinal axioms. 31 At this point, we might wonder if there are natural weakenings of the CIMH that yield a greater degree of consistency with large cardinals, thereby incorporating the best of both worlds. Some have already been considered, for example [Friedman, 2016] considers the IMH], a principle combining the IMH with a certain amount of reflection from height extensions. For stronger large cardinals, however, the question is still open. In this direction we recall questions raised by earlier discussion: Questions. Is the CIMHW consistent? If so, does it have substantial anti-large cardinal consequences? Answering these questions positively would not only provide us with a width absoluteness principle consistent with many large cardinals but destroying others, but would also provide a version of the CIMH consistent with axioms of definable determinacy. Connection to the iterative conception of set. One might instead push back on the claim that we should be trying to incorporate height absoluteness at all at the expense of width absoluteness. Whilst we have mostly concerned ourselves with the idea of restrictiveness, an argument in favour of width absoluteness as privileged as compared to height absoluteness can be obtained by considering the iterative conception of set. This tells us to: 1. Take all possible sets at successor stages. 2. Continue this process for as long as possible. If one thinks then that the CIMH is a good measure of taking all subsets at successor stages, we might simply say that it is not possible to take all subsets at successor stages and iterate the stages far enough to satisfy strong height reflection principles or large cardinal axioms. In this sense, width absoluteness is privileged in relation to height absoluteness and/or large cardinal existence.53 53An analogous argument that appeared in an ancestor of this paper ([Barton, U]) runs as follows: What would happen if we gained good evidence of the consistency of Reinhardt cardinals (and other choiceless cardinals) with ZF? Should we accept that AC is limitative and 'prevents' Reinhardt cardinals from being formed? There I argued no: The Axiom of Choice is well-motivated on the basis of the iterative conception and the idea of taking all subsets at previous stages, and the conclusion should be that the hypothetical consistency of a choiceless cardinal is witnessed by leaving out choice sets somehow (either in a proper inner model, or if the consistency is witnessed by a forcing extension then in a countable transitive model). 32 Should we repudiate large cardinals on this basis as definitively false? I want to emphasise that this is not my intention. All we have seen is that there are certain perspectives on which large cardinal axioms appear restrictive, and that this calls into question the idea that large cardinals assert the existence of 'big' sets in a straightforward sense. Rather, large cardinal axioms postulate a careful calibration between the largeness of ordinals and the kinds of subset that exist within the universe. There are plenty of places where one can object to the arguments essayed in this paper, and I am mindful of the phrase "One person's modus ponens is another's modus tollens." One might take my observations to show that instead width absoluteness is not a good measure of subset maximisation, or take this as a further false positive for Maddy's theory of restrictiveness. Either way, I think that (i) the sense in which large cardinal axioms are taken to be clear examples of maximisation principles, and (ii) the idea that the truth (rather than consistency in inner models) of large cardinals is an essential ingredient of any successful foundational programme are both deserving of serious philosophical scrutiny and require further foundational support. References [Antos et al., F] Antos, C., Barton, N., and Friedman, S.-D. (F). Universism and extensions of V . Forthcoming in The Review of Symbolic Logic. [Antos et al., 2015] Antos, C., Friedman, S.-D., Honzik, R., and Ternullo, C. (2015). 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