Definition of "formalism" in Englisch

noun

1. Strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice etc.

2. (computing) One of several alternative computational paradigms for a given theory.

3. (literature) An approach to interpretation and/or evaluation focused on the (usually linguistic) structure of a literary work rather than on the contexts of its origin or reception.

4. (music) The tendency to elevate formal above expressive value in music, as in serialism.

5. (mathematics, physics) A particular mathematical or scientific theory or description of a given state or effect.

6. (linguistics, computing, mathematics) A formal expression of a grammar; a formal grammar; a set of rules of syntax that, without reference to semantics, determine whether a sequence of symbols is a well-formed sentence in a given formal language.

   • 1992, tuart M. Shieber, Constraint-based Grammar Formalisms, The MIT Press, page 51, It is this abstraction that justifies considering these methods as characterizing constraint-based formalisms in general, rather than an individual formalism.

7. (philosophy of mathematics) The ontological view of mathematics as a mere collection of string manipulation rules.