The cutting edge: a surgical case study in field philosophy

Reframing an ongoing project on surgical innovation as an example of field philosophy has provided a valuable resource for our team to better understand the nature of our research and to grapple with the challenges it raises. The chapter outlines our interdisciplinary project, which involved a large team of academic philosophers, lawyers, and surgeons, as well as healthcare workers based in Australia and New Zealand. The securing of a significant Australian Research Council linkage with industry grant helped cement the empirical orientation of the project by writing in relationship with stakeholders and embedding a philosopher within an industry-based partner organization. The research was motivated by practical problems around defining surgical innovation and the ethical issues raised by its practice.