Citation

Groarke S. Int. J. Psychoanal. 2015; 97(4): 1035-1056.

Affiliation

Social Sciences Department, Roehampton University, Digby Stuart College, 80 Roehampton Lane, London SW15 5SL, UK . s.groarke@roehampton.ac.uk.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Institute of Psychoanalysis, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1745-8315.12411

PMID

26332398

Abstract

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.

Language: en