6.3.1 The Initial Pointed Set

The initial pointed set is the initial object of $\mathsf{Sets}_{*}$ as in Unresolved reference, Unresolved reference.

Concretely, the initial pointed set is the pair $\smash {((\mathrm{pt},\star ),\left\{ \iota _{X}\right\} _{(X,x_{0})\in \operatorname {\mathrm{Obj}}(\mathsf{Sets}_{*})})}$ consisting of:

  • The Limit. The pointed set $(\mathrm{pt},\star )$.

  • The Cone. The collection of morphisms of pointed sets

    \[ \left\{ \iota _{X}\colon (\mathrm{pt},\star )\to (X,x_{0})\right\} _{(X,x_{0})\in \operatorname {\mathrm{Obj}}(\mathsf{Sets})} \]

    defined by

    \[ \iota _{X}(\star )\mathrel {\smash {\overset {\mathclap {\scriptscriptstyle \text{def}}}=}}x_{0}. \]

We claim that $(\mathrm{pt},\star )$ is the initial object of $\mathsf{Sets}_{*}$. Indeed, suppose we have a diagram of the form

in $\mathsf{Sets}_{*}$. Then there exists a unique morphism of pointed sets

\[ \phi \colon (\mathrm{pt},\star )\to (X,x_{0}) \]

making the diagram

commute, namely $\iota _{X}$.


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