Though he slay me, yet will i trust in him’

A critical reconstruction of Winnicott's theory of value

Bibliographic Data

ID9056451
AuthorsSteven Groarke (0000-0002-3203-3494, Social Sciences Department, Roehampton University, Digby Stuart College, 80 Roehampton Lane, London SW15 5SL, UK, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume97
Issue4
Pages1035-1056
Publication date2016-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe International Journal of Psychoanalysis (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7578 • E-ISSN: 1745-8315
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1745-8315.12411
PMID26332398
OpenAlexW1896227963
LanguageEN
References cited2

This paper extrapolates an outline for a theory of value from Winnicott's reflections on war in 'Discussion of war aims' (1940). The author treats Winnicott's discussion as an occasion for a critical reconstruction of his theory of life-values. He discerns an implicit set of distinctions in Winnicott's reflections on war, including different orders of value (existential, ethical, and psychosocial); a distinction between maturity and necessity; and a yet more fundamental distinction between violence and brutality. The paper argues, on the basis of these distinctions, that Winnicott allows for an understanding of one's encounter with the enemy as an ethical relation. The main argument of the paper is that the ethical attitude underpins recognition of the enemy's humanity. On a more critical note, the author argues that Winnicott doesn't adhere consistently to the ethical attitude he presupposes, that in certain passages he privileges the maturity of combatants over the humanity of the enemy

Adversary · Argument (complex analysis) · Epistemology · Existentialism · Humanity · Maturity (psychological) · Psychoanalysis · Relation (database) · Set (abstract data type) · Sociology · Theology · Value (mathematics) · Indian History and Philosophy · Philosophy · Psychology

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