Dear Editors,

I am very grateful for Dr Epstein's careful reading of my paper and particularly for drawing attention to the work of Roy Bhaskar. I have a very high regard for this work and Dr Epstein is quite right in pointing out that my approach is consonant with Bhaskar's ‘Transcendental Realism’ which has been an influence upon me, perhaps more than I realized.

Those who wish to read more about the relevance of Bhaskar's views to psychoanalysis will find the following articles very helpful (Collier, 1981; Will, 1986).

Thanks again to Dr Epstein.