The Selected Writings of Maurice O'Connor Drury - (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Maurice O'Connor Drury was among Wittgenstein's first students after his return to Cambridge in 1929. The subsequent course of Drury's life and thought was to be enormously influenced by his teacher. The Selected Writings of Maurice O'Connor Drury brings together the best of his lectures, conversations, and letters on philosophy, religion and medicine.

Central to the collection is the Danger of Words, the 1973 text described by Ray Monk as 'the most truly Wittgensteinian book published by any of Wittgenstein's students'. Through notes on conversations with Wittgenstein, letters to a student of philosophy and correspondence of almost 30 years with Rush Rhees, Drury gives shape to what he had learned from Wittgenstein. Whether discussing philosophy, Simone Weil or the power of hypnosis, he makes fascinating excursions into the bearing of Wittgenstein's thought on philosophy and the practice of medicine and psychiatry.

Alongside a foreword by Monk and an introduction presenting a new biography of Drury, analysing the relationship between him and Wittgenstein, this collection features previously unpublished archival sources. Beautifully written and carefully selected, each piece reveals the impact of Wittgenstein's teachings, shedding light on the friendship and thinking of one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century.

Review Quotes

"But beyond Drury's recollections of, and conversations with, Wittgenstein, many of the writings in this collection have independent value-not least Drury's essay on the method of philosophy, his exchanges with Rush Rhees on religion, and his most famous work, The Danger of Words." --Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal

"A splendid book that provides an interesting, original perspective on Wittgenstein's thought . . . A substantial work excellently assembled and edited by Prof John Hayes. It is of interest to the general reader as well as to students of philosophy or psychiatry." --The Irish Times

"This wide-ranging selection of his writings by John Hayes of the University of Limerick is a welcome and long overdue publication . . . The collection combines Drury's much-cited recollections of Wittgenstein with his own philosophical writings, including his extensive correspondence with Rush Rhees (Wittgenstein's main literary executor), reflections on religion, and essays on medicine, psychiatry and hypnosis. The editor concedes that were it not for Drury's association with Wittgenstein the collection might not have found its way into print, but it is all the more valuable for this: Ray Monk, Wittgenstein's biographer, noted of Drury's only philosophical work published during his lifetime, The Danger of Words (1973, reprinted in this collection), that it was "the most truly Wittgensteinian work published by any of Wittgenstein's students." --Dublin Review of Books

"These Selected Writings. . ., excellently edited by John Hayes, provide us with a comprehensive picture of Drury's corpus, bringing together all the scattered pieces already in print as well as a considerable amount of unpublished material ... Drury's unique voice on the philosophy he learnt from his teacher is valuable; it is embedded in the life he lived as much as in his intellectual questing." --Philosophical Investigations

"In editing this collection so carefully and so scrupulously, John Hayes has provided an important service to those of us who have become admirers of Drury. His account of Drury's life, and, especially, of Drury's relationship with Wittgenstein, is rich in insight, detail and fresh information. The pieces by Drury that have previously been published - his articles about his conversations with Wittgenstein and the papers that made up The Danger of Words - are published here in a way that allows the readers to better understand the context in which they were written. And then there is the new material - the letters to Rush Rhees about philosophy and religion, the BBC broadcast about Wittgenstein, and the lecture on philosophy that Drury gave at University College Dublin - all of which is collected here together with extraordinarily complete annotations." --Ray Monk, Professor of Philosophy, University of Southampton, UK

"As shown by the work of Störring, Ziehen, Jaspers, Janet, Mourgue, Morselli, Ey, Lanteri-Laura, Martin-Santos, Kimura, etc., the psychiatrist-philosopher remains a cultural archetype. Con Drury's work showed that such a figure was also present in Great Britain. Lovingly edited by John Hayes, this volume illustrates the usefulness to psychiatry of conceptual analysis and of a way of thinking that, alas, is now rarely exercised by its practitioners." --German E. Berrios, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, UK

"This meticulously edited collection brings together, for the first time, some of the most important published and unpublished writings of Maurice O'Conner Drury, pupil and life-long friend of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Drury's writings provide a unique insight into Wittgenstein's thinking about philosophy and religion. They also give the reader an opportunity to fully appreciate the significance of Drury's own philosophically inspired thinking about medicine and psychiatry. The book is an invaluable resource for all those interested in the life and work of one of the greatest philosophers of 20th century. It is also of great significance for illuminating the subtle connections between philosophy, religion and medicine that were at the heart of Drury's own thinking." --Maria Baghramian, Chair of American Philosophy, School of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland

"Intelligently and humanely curated by its editor, this collection will remain the definitive volume on Drury's life and his life-defining relationship with Wittgenstein." --TLS

"For readers who are too busy, hassled or otherwise preoccupied to read beyond the first lines of this review, I will summarise at this point: this volume is entirely splendid." --B.K. Kelly, Professor of Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

About the Author

John Hayes is Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland.

Ray Monk is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southampton, UK. He has published award-winning biographies of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell. His most recent book is Inside the Centre: the Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (2012, Jonathan Cape).