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Glite Dictionary
🔢 Theory of symbols 📏 Strict rules 🎨 Focus on form
formalism

formalism

1 9.9
The idea that math and logic are only rules for using symbols without real meaning
  • noun
  • /ˈfɔːrməlɪzəm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : formalismo
  • In philosophy, understanding the concept of formalism helps clarify how mathematical symbols express structures rather than intrinsic meanings.
  • mathematical formalism
  • quantum formalism

Schrodinger and Einstein were two people who, when this formalism of quantum mechanics was invented, didn't buy into it.

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Examples

  • Mathematical formalisms are useful for identifying the negotiation set from which the political process selects the decision.

    Academic text (1993)

  • We are now developing a formalism of 3D quantum space based on Planck's work.

    Blog text (31)

  • And actually a lot of the time finding the right formalism is a big part of the battle, right?

    Computerphile

  • We will use the formalism and notation of 49.

    Academic text (2018)

  • And this phenomenon of relaxation requires the formalism of the master equation.

  • Focusing on formalism, truth, and proof thus misinforms students about science.

    Academic text (2010)

  • The primary goal of this formalism is to estimate the exponential growth rate defined by the relation.

    Academic text (2018)

  • Calculus proved to be a powerful formalism for handling problems in celestial mechanics.

    Academic text (2005)

  • In the 19th century, mathematicians developed the formalism of curved space and space with an arbitrary number of dimensions.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Three of them build on the formalism introduced in the seminal articles by Hohenberg and Kohn and by Kohn and Sham.

    Academic text (2006)

Antonyms

substance
188 4.3

The main idea of something said or written

meaningfulness
1 4.9

Something that has a clear purpose or value

Compounds

zombie formalism
  • Neologism
9.9

Art that looks stylish but has no new ideas or real meaning

Surface Forms

formalism singular
formalisms plural

Morphology

formalism = formal (semi-transparent) = formal + ism

The technical philosophical sense is formed by 'formal' + '-ism' but the specialized, domain-specific meaning requires philosophical knowledge beyond what a B1 learner would infer.

Etymology

Formalism comes from form, from Latin forma meaning 'shape', plus -ism meaning 'belief or system'. So in philosophy formalism is a 'belief in form' that studies the structure and rules of symbols instead of looking for a deeper meaning.