"By "philosophy of mathematics" I mean the specific set of concepts, categories, and theories employed, implicitly or explicitly, by philosophers and mathematicians in their discourse about mathematics. Understood in this way, philosophy of mathematics would include, among other things, some rather ethereal discussions on the nature of numbers by several hermetic philosophers, and the status of various notions, including number, space, infinity, according to the philosophers and mathematicians operating in the seventeenth century, as well as several other areas of investigation. Therefore I must introduce a qualification contained in the concept of "mathematical practice." ...I use this term as it is used today in mathematical logic and philosophy of mathematics, simply to indicate mathematics as it is done, not as it should be done according to some preconceived philosophical viewpoint. ...[F]ar from eliminating the philosophical questions, an interest in mathematical practice has actually extended their range. Addressing the issue of mathematical practice requires a detailed knowledge of the mathematical literature of the period."