Winnicott's Letters can be read in various ways. Our interest may lie in the biographical information emerging about Winnicott the man, or from the light the letters shed on the English psychoanalytical scene in the '50s and '60s, seen through the eyes of one of its main exponents, or then again from the chance of gaining deeper insight into specific aspects of Winnicott's theoretical ideas and clinical practice.

Being external to this, I preferred to read the Letters as a diary containing some of Winnicott's personal thoughts and insights. From this standpoint, it seemed to me to be able to identify a spontaneous philosophy(1) present in Winnicott, which contributed to shaping his theoretical and clinical studies. I was struck by what appeared to be an implicit affinity between Winnicott and those British moral