The notion of experience in the thought of Winnicott as a differential concept in the history os psychoanalysis

Abstract

This article tries to locate Winnicott’s position in the history of psychoanalysis, assuming the concept of experience as the principal axis of his theory and clinics. The aims of the text is to show that this notion produces a kind of turning point in the tradition that comes from Freud, passes by Ferenczi and Melanie Klein, to lead into Winnicott’s conception. It starts showing that the notion of experience contemplates a new point of view (the baby’s one) and leans on the discovery of the existence of true and false psyches. Afterwards, it discusses the changes that axis produces in the concepts of sexuality and death instinct. Finally, it evaluates if Winnicott’s position constitutes a new psychoanalytical paradigm (or not). Keywords: Experience, Sexuality, Death instinct, Paradigm.