Abstract We investigate which part of Brouwer’s Intuitionistic Mathematics is finitistically justifiable or guaranteed in Hilbert’s Finitism, in the same way as similar investigations on Classical Mathematics (i.e., which part is equiconsistent with $\textbf {PRA}$ or consistent provably in $\textbf {PRA}$ ) already done quite extensively in proof theory and reverse mathematics. While we already knew a contrast from the classical situation concerning the continuity principle, more contrasts turn out: we show that several principles are finitistically justifiable or guaranteed which are classically not. Among them are:(i)fan theorem for decidable fans but arbitrary bars;(ii)continuity principle and the axiom of choice both for arbitrary formulae; and(iii) $\Sigma _2$ induction and dependent choice. We also show that Markov’s principle MP does not change this situation; that neither does lesser limited principle of omniscience LLPO (except the choice along functions); but that limited principle of omniscience LPO makes the situation completely classical.

We introduce infinitary propositional theories over a set and their models which are subsets of the set, and define a generalized geometric theory as an infinitary propositional theory of a special form. The main result is thatthe class of models of a generalized geometric theory is set-generated. Here, a class $\mathcal{X}$ of subsets of a set is set-generated if there exists a subsetGof $\mathcal{X}$ such that for each α ∈ $\mathcal{X}$ , and finitely enumerable subset τ of α there exists a subset β ∈Gsuch that τ ⊆ β ⊆ α. We show the main result in the constructive Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory (CZF) with an additional axiom, called the set generation axiom which is derivable inCZF, both from the relativized dependent choice scheme and from a regular extension axiom. We give some applications of the main result to algebra, topology and formal topology.