Elements are sets directly by the definition of set; existence comes from the empty-set and pairing axioms, and uniqueness in both cases from extensionality.
Clause elements. Let be an element of a class , that is, . Then there is a class of which is an element, so is a set by Classes, Membership, Sets and Proper Classes §set.
Clause empty. By Axiom of the Empty Set there is a set such that no set satisfies . In fact has no element at all: if a class satisfied , then would be a set by Classes, Membership, Sets and Proper Classes §set, contrary to the choice of . Now let be any class with no element. For every set , both and are false, so holds if and only if holds; by Axiom of Extensionality for Classes, . Thus every class with no element equals ; in particular every set with no element equals , so is the only set with no element.
Clause pair. Let and be sets. By Axiom of Pairing there is a set such that, for every set , if and only if or . If is a set with the same property, then for every set we have if and only if ( or ) if and only if , so by Axiom of Extensionality for Classes. Hence is unique.
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