Raffaello Cortina Editore

The debate about Winnicott’s relationship to Metapsychology is raised in the margins of the research project promoted and led by Riolo (2015-2020). Moving from the consistent dialogue between Fulgencio and Girard, the author revisits Winnicott’s theory of instincts in a constant dialectics with the Freud’s one. After reviewing Winnicott’s conceptual work, the author argues that the theory of destructiveness, different from Freud’s, is crucial and remarkable for the elaboration of some of the most original  concepts, such as intermediate area and potential space.KEY WORDS: Drive/instinctual theory, Fulgencio-Girard debate (2007-2017), metapsychology, Winnicott-Freud comparison.