The idea was formulated by the logical positivists and arises out of a formalist vision of mathematics as pure symbol manipulation.
In order to get a grasp on the motivations which inspired the development of the idea of coordinative definitions, it is important to understand the doctrine of formalism as it is conceived in the philosophy of mathematics.
In any case, such definitions (also called bridge laws or correspondence rules) were held to serve three important purposes.
In the first place, by connecting the uninterpreted formalism with the observation language, they permit the assignment of synthetic content to theories.
Lastly, they allow for the possibility to avoid certain vicious circles that arise with regard to such matters as the measurement of the speed of light in one direction.