Hypertext Webster Gateway: "formalism"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Formalism \Form"al*ism\, 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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
formalism
n 1: the doctrine that formal structure rather than content is
what should be represented [ant: {imitation}]
2: 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
3: the practice of scrupulous adherence to prescribed or
external forms
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