TITLE: Is it possible to define countability without referring the natural numbers?
QUESTION [37 upvotes]: Cantor defined countable sets as

A set is countable if there exists an injective function from the set to the set of natural numbers.

Still today countability is almost always defined in Cantor's words. Are the natural numbers really necessary to define countability. Most mathematicians admit that set theory is still a rich subject to study without getting into the conception of numbers. And I believe that the notion of countability is more fundamental than the set of natural numbers itself. Hence I wonder is it possible to define countability without referring the natural numbers?
Let $A$ be a set and let $S:A\rightarrow A$ be a successor function which is characterised by the following properties. 

Two different elements in $A$ can not have same successor. 
The successor of an element should not be its ancestor.

Shall I define countable sets as below?

A set is countable if there exists a successor function as characterised above.

REPLY [3 votes]: A set $S$ is countable iff $S$ injects into every set $T$ that non-surjectively injects into $T$.

Basically, $S$ is countable iff $S$ is no larger than every infinite set.

A set is countable if there exists a successor function as characterised above.

Henning Makholm already explained why this is wrong, but I wish to point out that it is because you did not get an equivalence. If a set is countable then there exists a successor function like you said, but the converse does not hold.