TITLE: Every non zero commutative ring with identity has a minimal prime.
QUESTION [12 upvotes]: Let $A$ be a non zero commutative ring with identity. Show that the set of prime ideals of $A$ has minimal elements with respect to inclusion.

I don´t know how to prove that, I can suppose that the ring is an integral domain, otherwise the ideal $(0)$ is a prime ideal , but I don´t know how to proceed. Probably it's a Zorn application.

REPLY [6 votes]: Below is a hint, with further remarks on the structure of the set of prime ideals, from Kaplansky's excellent textbook Commutative Rings. For a recent survey on the poset structure of prime ideals in commutative rings see R & S Wiegand, Prime ideals in Noetherian rings: a survey,  in T. Albu, Ring and Module Theory, 2010.