Abstract: | Abstract A categorical characterization of the category Haus of Hausdorft topological spaces within the category Top of topological spaces is given. A notion of a Hausdorff nearness space is then introduced and it is proved that the resulting subcategory Haus Near of the category Near of nearness spaces fulfills exactly the same characterization as derived for Haus in Top. Properties of Haus Near and relations to other important sub-categories of Near are studied. |