The Collision between Comparative Theory and Dialectical Thinking: Response to Benjamin, Schwartz Cooney, and Swartz

ABSTRACT

The author responds to rich discussions by Benjamin, Schwartz Cooney, and Swartz (this issue). He attempts to understand further the historical context for Mitchell’s developmental tilt paper as he elaborates what was overlooked. Mitchell’s pervasive epistemological focus in the developmental tilt paper was at odds with Winnicott’s revolutionary impact as one of the progenitors of an ontological approach to analytic work. The author joins in appreciating each discussant’s ways of understanding the tensions between schematic thinking intrinsic to comparative psychoanalysis exemplified in Mitchell’s developmental tilt theory and the unique and rich dynamic identity of any individual psychoanalytic theory. Each discussant and the author examine the strains of resisting the concretization of developmental metaphors in order to hold the value of early experience as a rich and vital part of analytic work. Each discussant and the author also note Mitchell’s continued work throughout his career to redress some of the limitations in his earlier, more constricted views of development.

This article responds to:

Polemics and Play: Reflections on Cooper and the Development Tilt

Tilting Back Toward Development: Response to Steven Cooper’s “Donald Winnicott and Stephen Mitchell’s Developmental Tilt Hypothesis Reconsidered”

Tilts and Drives: Commentary on “Donald Winnicott and Stephen Mitchell’s Developmental Tilt Hypothesis Reconsidered” by Steven Cooper

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Steven H. Cooper

Steven H. Cooper, Ph.D., is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute; a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry (part-time) at Harvard Medical School; and Joint Chief Editor Emeritus of Psychoanalytic Dialogues. His new book, Playing and Becoming in Psychoanalysis will be published in 2021.