---
title: "Correction to A Note on the Entscheidungsproblem"
authors:
  - "Alonzo Church"
year: 1936
venue: "Journal of Symbolic Logic"
arxiv: null
doi: "10.2307/2268319"
source: "https://doi.org/10.2307/2268319"
topics:
  - entscheidungsproblem
  - church
seed_rank: 509
seed_batch: "foundations-greats-2026-08-13"
reviewed: "2026-08-13"
pool: "maths-foundations"
relevance_score: 8
lineage: foundations-of-computing
cites:
  - title: "A Note on the Entscheidungsproblem"
    url: "https://doi.org/10.2307/2268565"
    year: 1936
    arxiv: null
    doi: "10.2307/2268565"
  - title: "An Unsolvable Problem of Elementary Number Theory"
    url: "https://doi.org/10.2307/2371045"
    year: 1936
    arxiv: null
    doi: "10.2307/2371045"
  - title: "On Undecidable Propositions of Formal Mathematical Systems"
    url: "https://albert.ias.edu/20.500.12111/7996"
    year: 1934
    arxiv: null
    doi: null
see:
  - "508-a-note-on-the-entscheidungsproblem"
  - "507-an-unsolvable-problem-of-elementary-number-theory"
  - "506-on-undecidable-propositions-of-formal-mathematical-systems"
---

# Correction to A Note on the Entscheidungsproblem

## One-sentence takeaway

Church's same-year erratum repairs the reduction in the JSL Entscheidungsproblem note so the unsolvability claim stands.

## Why it matters here

Keeps the 1936 Church cluster accurate when wiring cites: quote the note *and* the correction, or cite the AJM paper, rather than a silently patched textbook version.

## Key ideas

- Identifies a gap in the original reduction from an unsolvable number-theoretic problem to FOL validity.
- Supplies the missing step without changing the conclusion.
- Shows how fast the 1936 results were iterating—proof, note, and erratum in one year.

## Caveats

## Links

- DOI: [10.2307/2268319](https://doi.org/10.2307/2268319)
- JSTOR: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2268319