In this paper I shall argue that the presumption of infinitude may be excised from the area of mathematics known as natural number theory with no substantial loss. Except for a few concluding remarks, I shall restrict my concern in here arguing the thesis to the business of constructing and developing a first-order axiomatic system for arithmetic (called ‘FA’ for finite arithmetic) that contains no theorem to the effect that there are infinitely many numbers.

The paper will consist of five parts. Part I characterizes the underlying logic of FA. In part II ordering of natural numbers is developed from a restricted set of axioms, induction schemata are proved and a way of expressing finitude presented. A full set of axioms are used in part III to prove working theorems on comparison of size. In part IV an ordinal expression is defined and characteristic theorems proved. Theorems for addition and multiplication are derived in part V from definitions in terms of the ordinal expression of part IV. The crucial final constructions of part V present a new method of replacing recursive characterizations by strict definitions.

In view of our resolution not to assume that there are infinitely many numbers, we shall have to deal with the situation where singular arithmetic terms of FA may fail to refer. For I know of no acceptable and systematic way of avoiding such situations. As a further result, singular-term instances of universal generalizations of FA are not to be inferred directly from the generalizations themselves. Nevertheless, (i) (x)(y)(x + y = y + x), for example, and all its instances are provable in FA.