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The question is in the title:

Who first claimed the existence / necessity of the empty set ? When did this happen ?

Of course I know that the notation $\emptyset$ goes back to André Weil, and that the first axiom of ZF is that there exists an empty set, but I ask whether this is an older concept.

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  • $\begingroup$ The first step towards the invention of the empty set is the invention of zero, which is not yet universally used among mathematicians :) $\endgroup$
    – YCor
    Commented Jun 17, 2020 at 14:57

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"It can be justifiably argued that Boole had inventented the empty set" [in The Mathematical Analysis of Logic (1847)].

The Empty Set, the Singleton, and the Ordered Pair, Akihiro Kanamori (2003).

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