Crossword clues for formalism
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Formalism \Form"al*ism\ (f[^o]rm"al*[i^]z'm), n. The practice or the doctrine of strict adherence to, or dependence on, external forms, esp. in matters of religion.
Official formalism.
--Sir H.
Rawlinson.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. 1 Strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice etc. 2 (context computing English) One of several alternative computational paradigms for a given theory. 3 (context literature English) 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 (context music English) The tendency to elevate formal above expressive value in music, as in serialism. 5 (context mathematics physics English) A particular mathematical or scientific theory or description of a given state or effect.
WordNet
n. the doctrine that formal structure rather than content is what should be represented [ant: imitation]
(philosophy) the philosophical theory that formal (logical or mathematical) statements have no meaning but that its symbols (regarded as physical entities) exhibit a form that has useful applications
the practice of scrupulous adherence to prescribed or external forms
Wikipedia
The term formalism describes an emphasis on form over content or meaning in the arts, literature, or philosophy. A practitioner of formalism is called a formalist. A formalist, with respect to some discipline, holds that there is no transcendent meaning to that discipline other than the literal content created by a practitioner. For example, formalists within mathematics claim that mathematics is no more than the symbols written down by the mathematician, which is based on logic and a few elementary rules alone. This is as opposed to non-formalists, within that field, who hold that there are some things inherently true, and are not, necessarily, dependent on the symbols within mathematics so much as a greater truth. Formalists within a discipline are completely concerned with "the rules of the game," as there is no other external truth that can be achieved beyond those given rules. In this sense, formalism lends itself well to disciplines based upon axiomatic systems.
In art history, formalism is the study of art by analyzing and comparing form and style—the way objects are made and their purely visual aspects. In painting, formalism emphasizes compositional elements such as color, line, shape, texture, and other perceptual aspects rather than iconography or the historical and social context. At its extreme, formalism in art history posits that everything necessary to comprehending a work of art is contained within the work of art. The context for the work, including the reason for its creation, the historical background, and the life of the artist, that is, its conceptual aspect is considered to be of secondary importance. Anti-formalism in art would assert the opposite ascription of respectively primary and secondary importance.
Formalism is a school of literary criticism and literary theory having mainly to do with structural purposes of a particular text. It is the study of a text without taking into account any outside influence. Formalism rejects (or sometimes simply "brackets," i.e., ignores for the purpose of analysis) notions of culture or societal influence, authorship, and content, and instead focuses on modes, genres, discourse, and forms.
In music theory and especially in the branch of study called the aesthetics of music, formalism is the concept that a composition's meaning is entirely determined by its form.
Formalism may refer to:
- Form (disambiguation)
- Formal (disambiguation)
- Legal formalism, legal positivist view that the substantive justice of a law is a question for the legislature rather than the judiciary
- Formalism (linguistics)
- Scientific formalism
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Formalism (philosophy), that there is no transcendent meaning to a discipline other than the literal content created by a practitioner
- Religious formalism, an emphasis on the ritual and observance of religion, rather than its meaning.
- Formalism (mathematics), that statements of mathematics and logic can be thought of as statements about the consequences of certain string manipulation rules.
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Formalism (art), that a work's artistic value is entirely determined by its form
- Formalism (music)
- Formalist film theory, focused on the formal, or technical, elements of a film
- Formalism (literature)
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New Formalism (architecture), a mid-20th century architectural style, sometimes abbreviated to Formalism
- Russian formalism, school of literary criticism in Russia from the 1910s to the 1930s
In foundations of mathematics, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophy of logic, formalism is a theory that holds that statements of mathematics and logic can be considered to be statements about the consequences of certain string manipulation rules.
For example, Euclidean geometry can be considered a game whose play consists in moving around certain strings of symbols called axioms according to a set of rules called " rules of inference" to generate new strings. In playing this game one can "prove" that the Pythagorean theorem is valid because the string representing the Pythagorean theorem can be constructed using only the stated rules.
According to formalism, the truths expressed in logic and mathematics are not about numbers, sets, or triangles or any other contensive subject matter — in fact, they aren't "about" anything at all. They are syntactic forms whose shapes and locations have no meaning unless they are given an interpretation (or semantics).
Formalism is associated with rigorous method. In common use, a formalism means the out-turn of the effort towards formalisation of a given limited area. In other words, matters can be formally discussed once captured in a formal system, or commonly enough within something formalisable with claims to be one. Complete formalisation is in the domain of computer science.
Formalism stresses axiomatic proofs using theorems, specifically associated with David Hilbert. A formalist is an individual who belongs to the school of formalism, which is a certain mathematical-philosophical doctrine descending from Hilbert.
Formalists are relatively tolerant and inviting to new approaches to logic, non-standard number systems, new set theories, etc. The more games we study, the better. However, in all three of these examples, motivation is drawn from existing mathematical or philosophical concerns. The "games" are usually not arbitrary.
Recently, some formalist mathematicians have proposed that all of our formal mathematical knowledge should be systematically encoded in computer-readable formats, in order to facilitate automated proof checking of mathematical proofs and the use of interactive theorem proving in the development of mathematical theories and computer software. Because of their close connection with computer science, this idea is also advocated by mathematical intuitionists and constructivists in the "computability" tradition (see below).
Usage examples of "formalism".
The problem encountered by the Copenhagen and Many-Worlds Interpretations is that the Afshar Experiment has identified a situation in which these popular interpretations of quantum mechanics are inconsistent with the quantum formalism itself.
Thus, the Transactional interpretation is completely consistent with the results of the Afshar Experiment and with the quantum formalism.
Paul Dirac, Wolfgang Pauli, Julian Schwinger, Freeman Dyson, Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, and Feynman, to name a few, struggled relentlessly to find a mathematical formalism capable of dealing with this microscopic obstreperousness.
Surely such redescription is impossible where we have no description to begin with -- no meanings, nothing to redescribe -- that is, where we are dealing with a completed formalism.
Whoever had written this had been church-educated, certainly, for the lettering paraded down the page with a trace of Aostan formalism.
Surely the very kidneys of wisdom, Florence Green has only one kidney, I have a kidney stone, Baskerville was stoned by the massed faculty of the Famous Writers School upon presentation of his first lesson: he was accused of formalism.
We can translate these words into a mathematical formalism that describes real-world experiments with amazing accuracy.
The mathematical formalism of his theory, however, could be extended fairly directly to write down analogous equations for a universe with additional space dimensions.
The calculational formalism shows that the larger the string coupling constant, the more likely it is that quantum jitters will cause an initial string to split apart (and subsequently rejoin).
According to quantum mechanics, the universe evolves according to a rigorous and precise mathematical formalism, but this framework determines only the probability that any particular future will happen—not which future actually ensues.
When I was buried they would be written on a sheet of paper narrow as my thumb, in the symbols of Formalisms & Transformations, and tucked between my breasts and buried with me.
The question was, would Hifalutin Magic do it, or did I have to move clear on up to Formalisms & Transformations?
Macon Desirard Guthrie was no common person, but a man skilled in Formalisms & Transformations.
She had cast Spells half the night, she’d done Formalisms & Transformations till her hands ached, and she’d gotten only one answer.
There was a reading of the Articles of the Confederation, with a commentary to follow from the senior Magician of Rank pointing out the satisfying parallels between the structure of the Articles and the notations of Formalisms & Transformations.