Introduction to Volume 6
The discussion in the Introduction to Volume 6 considers the papers composed between 1960-1963 as Winnicott’s consolidation of his seminal views, elaborated over his professional lifetime: the ever present motif of the parent-infant relationship and the evolution of dependency towards independence, the nature of aggression and its role in living with a sense of being real, the necessity for that way of living to be isolated and yet relating to others with concern from an authentic place within one’s self, and what constitutes health. He was no longer working in the public health service but was a major contributor on the national and international psychoanalytic scene. The author contests that the writings of this period must be understood in the light of his ongoing internal relationship with Melanie Klein, who died at the beginning of this period.