We introduce a general purpose typed λ-calculus λ∞ which contains intuitionistic logic, is capable of internalizing its own
derivations as λ-terms and yet enjoys strong normalization with respect to a natural reduction system. In particular, λ∞ subsumes
the typed λ-calculus. The Curry-Howard isomorphism converting intuitionistic proofs into λ∞terms is a simple instance of the
internalization property of λ∞. The standard semantics of λ∞ is given by a proof system with proof checking capacities. The
system λ∞ is a theoretical prototype of reflective extensions of a broad class of type-based systems in programming languages,
provers, AI and knowledge representation, etc.
The research described in this paper was supported in part by ARO under the MURI program “Integrated Approach to Intelligent
Systems”, grant DAAH04-96-1-0341, by DARPA under program LPE, project 34145.