Erik Erikson's work constitutes a fundamental and independent vision of psychoanalysis. While this vision emerged from the psychoanalytic ego psychological milieu in which Erikson worked, it strains the limits of that tradition, both in its content and its tone; this may help account for its limited acceptance in the American analytic mainstream, in contrast to its widespread influence in other intellectual circles (Wallerstein, 1995). This paper considers Erikson's “way of looking at things” (Erikson, 1950, p. 403) in light of current developments in psychoanalytic thinking, especially the turn to an “intersubjective” point of view that emphasizes the essential place of relationships in motivation, development, and clinical practice. We propose, first, that important potentials that remain