Introducing the Philosophy of Mathematical Practice

This Element introduces the philosophy of mathematical practice with several illustrations of what it means to work in this field.

The Element introduces the philosophy of mathematical practice, which takes mathematical practice and contrasts it with mathematical philosophy, a term traced back to Bertrand Russell's scientific philosophy. It discusses mathematical structuralism and visual thinking, focusing on methodological aspects and historical and contemporary examples.This Element introduces a young field, the 'philosophy of mathematical practice'. We first offer a general characterisation of the approach to the philosophy of mathematics that takes mathematical practice seriously and contrast it with 'mathematical philosophy'. The latter is traced back to Bertrand Russell and the orientation referred to as 'scientific philosophy' that was active between 1850 and 1930. To give a better sense of the field, the Element further contains two examples of topics studied, that of mathematical structuralism and visual thinking in mathematics. These are in part presented from a methodological point of view, focussing on mathematics as an activity and questions related to how mathematics develops. In addition, the Element contains several examples from mathematics, both historical and contemporary , to illustrate and support the philosophical points.