ABSTRACT
In her study of Winnicott’s paper on “The use of an object”, the author stresses the advantages he introduced by differentiating between object relating and object use. By contrasting object relating with object use Winnicott introduces a new term for a new experience based on the specific quality of the object’s ability to maintain an independent attitude. This perspective describes the crucial part played by the object’s surviving destruction and thereby ushering into the world of the infant reliable limits to its omnipotence and opening the way for a trustworthy and dependable outside world. However, Winnicott’s emphasis on the survival of the patient’s aggression which places “the analyst outside the area of subjective phenomena” is not without risk: it can overestimate survival. Autobiographical conflicts undoubtedly led to Winnicott’s emphasis on survival and therefore account for his interest in the subject.
