La didattica del gnothi kairon secondo alcuni maestri di platonismo imperiale e tardo-antico

The aim of this paper is to address the question of kairos from both a biographical and a didactic perspective, by focusing on some texts of the Platonist tradition in which the term kairos does not appear, yet traces of both its situational and formal meanings can be found. More specifically, I would like to show that when the Platonists present Plato as the culmination of the history of philosophy, they are inclined to identify the formative (or even situational) kairos for Plato in his encounter with Socrates. This encounter appears essential to enable the metaphysical flight of Plato’s thought, and represents the moment when philosophy becomes a medicine for the soul.