Subtitle: The Elements & Distinctions Analysis of the Morphisms, Duality, Canonicity, and Universal Constructions in Sets
Category theory gives a mathematical characterization of naturality but not of canonicity. The purpose of this paper is to develop the logical theory of canonical maps based on showing that the dual notions of elements & distinctions are the basic analytical concepts needed to unpack and analyze morphisms, duality, canonicity, and universal constructions in Sets, the category of sets and functions. The analysis extends directly to other Sets-based concrete categories (groups, rings, vector spaces, etc.) where the objects are sets with a certain type of structure and the morphisms are functions that preserve that structure.