Trata-se de explicitar as críticas que Winnicott fez ao conceito de pulsão de morte, indicando que alternativas ofereceu para resolver os problemas para os quais Freud teria suposto a pulsão de morte. Depois de retomar a posição de Freud, para mostrar que esse conceito serve como uma especulação para compreender a compulsão à repetição, demonstra-se que Winnicott mudou o foco da questão, considerando que os pacientes precisam regredir a situações similares à traumática, anteriores à constituição das defesas contra o trauma, para as integrarem em sua personalidade.

Winnicott's criticism and alternatives to the concept of death instinct. The objective of this article is to explain Winnicott's criticism on the concept of death instinct, by showing the alternatives Winnicott gave to solve the problems for which Freud would have supposed the death instinct. After examining Freud's position to show that this concept is used in a speculative way to understand the repetition compulsion, it is shown that Winnicott changed the core of the issue taking into account the fact that patients need to regress to situations similar to the traumatic one, nevertheless, prior to the constitution of the defences against the trauma in order to integrate these traumatic experiences into their personality.