Formal Versus Nonformal
In information science an ontology is formal if it is specified in a formal language, otherwise it is informal.
In philosophy, a separate distinction between formal and nonformal ontologies exists, which does not relate to the use of a formal language.
Read more about this topic: Formal Ontology
Famous quotes containing the word formal:
“True variety is in that plenitude of real and unexpected elements, in the branch charged with blue flowers thrusting itself, against all expectations, from the springtime hedge which seems already too full, while the purely formal imitation of variety ... is but void and uniformity, that is, that which is most opposed to variety....”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)