formalism

noun7

1. •
   Strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice etc.
2. •
   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.
3. •
   The tendency to elevate formal above expressive value in music, as in serialism.
4. •
   The ontological view of mathematics as a mere collection of string manipulation rules.
5. •
   One of several alternative computational paradigms for a given theory.
6. •
   A particular mathematical or scientific theory or description of a given state or effect.
7. •
   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.

   • It is this abstraction that justifies considering these methods as characterizing constraint-based formalisms in general, rather than an individual formalism. — 1992