[FOM] Historical query (on the very idea of a formalized theory)

[Roger B Jones]

On Tuesday 30 November 2004 11:10 pm, you wrote:
> Church in his Intro. to Math. Logic (pp. 50 - 51) very clearly
> spells it out that, for a properly defined "logistic system",
> the definition of a wff has to be effective, the specification
> of the axioms has to be effective, and it has to be effective
> what counts as a proof by the rules of inference.
>
> I was wondering: at what point between did people become
> explicit and clear about this sort of effectiveness
> requirement on a properly formalized theory?

It can't have been much before Church since before him
the term "effective" had no definite meaning.

Roger Jones