Formalism
['fɔːm(ə)lɪz(ə)m] or ['fɔrməlɪzəm]
Definition
(noun.) the practice of scrupulous adherence to prescribed or external forms.
(noun.) the doctrine that formal structure rather than content is what should be represented.
(noun.) (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.
Typed by Levi--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The practice or the doctrine of strict adherence to, or dependence on, external forms, esp. in matters of religion.
Inputed by Hahn
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Rigidity, ceremoniousness, pomposity, externalism, parade, punctilio
ANT:Simplicity, unostentatiousness, unaffectedness, unceremoniousness
Typist: Lucas
Examples
- Reference to these possible applications is necessary in order that the abstraction may be fruitful, instead of a barren formalism ending in itself. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Reacting against an empty formalism they are tumbling over themselves to prove how directly they touch daily life. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Thou never had one, Pilar told him, the insults having reached the ultimate formalism in Spanish in which the acts are never stated but only implied. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Formalism sets in as you move east and south into the older and more settled communities. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The very air of America would seem to be a guarantee against formalism. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- For the bogs of technical stupidity and empty formalism are always near and always dangerous. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Without some new dynamic force America, for all her tradition, is not immune to a hardening formalism. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
Typed by Aileen