Formal sciences are disciplines concerned with formal systems, such as logic, mathematics, statistics, theoretical computer science, information theory, game theory, systems theory, decision theory, and portions of linguistics.
Whereas natural sciences and other sciences like social sciences, behavioral sciences, and cognitive science seek soundness of scientific theory with respect to observations in order to successfully predict and perhaps accurately explain phenomena in the external world, the formal sciences are concerned with the internal properties of formal systems, especially definitions of terms and rules governing inferences.
Formal sciences sometimes aid constructing, assessing, and testing scientific theories and scientific models, however, by revealing inconsistencies or invalid forms of inference.
Read more about Formal Sciences: History, Differences From Other Forms of Science
Famous quotes containing the words formal and/or sciences:
“It is in the nature of allegory, as opposed to symbolism, to beg the question of absolute reality. The allegorist avails himself of a formal correspondence between “ideas” and “things,” both of which he assumes as given; he need not inquire whether either sphere is “real” or whether, in the final analysis, reality consists in their interaction.”
—Charles, Jr. Feidelson, U.S. educator, critic. Symbolism and American Literature, ch. 1, University of Chicago Press (1953)
“The best thing about the sciences is their philosophical ingredient, like life for an organic body. If one dephilosophizes the sciences, what remains left? Earth, air, and water.”
—Novalis [Friedrich Von Hardenberg] (1772–1801)