Il fondamento emotivo della cura socratica di sé

This paper addresses the notion of ‘care for the self’ (epimeleia heautou) in Socratic literature. The first part discusses the interpretations of this notion by Pierre Hadot and Michel Foucault, and the multiple ways in which these were applied in a variety of disciplines other than ancient philosophy, such as sociology, pedagogy, psychology, psychotherapy, ethics, and applied philosophy (including philosophical counselling and philosophy for children). In the second part, I examine texts drawn from Socratic literature (Plato, Xenophon, and Aeschines) which show that the core of epimeleia heautou is emotional. I claim that the care for the self is a care for emotions via emotions, and that its aim is to transform the life of Socrates’s interlocutors into a life devoted to a never-ending self-examination.