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KairosWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Kairos
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Kairos()isanancientGreekwordmeaningtherightor
opportunemoment(thesuprememoment).TheancientGreekshad
twowordsfortime,chronosandkairos.Whiletheformerrefersto
chronologicalorsequentialtime,thelattersignifiesatimelapse,a
momentofindeterminatetimeinwhicheverythinghappens.Whatis
happeningwhenreferringtokairosdependsonwhoisusingthe
word.Whilechronosisquantitative,kairoshasaqualitative,
permanentnature.Kairosalsomeansseasoninancient[1]and
weatherinmodernGreek.Theplural,(kairoi(AncientGk.
andMod.Gk.))meansthetimes.

Contents
1 Inclassicalrhetoric
2 Modernrhetoricaldefinition

KairosRelief,copyofLysippos,in
Trogir(Croatia)

3 InChristiantheology
4 Seealso
5 Notes
6 Furtherreading

Inclassicalrhetoric
Inrhetorickairosis"apassinginstantwhenanopeningappears
whichmustbedriventhroughwithforceifsuccessistobe
achieved."[2]
KairoswascentraltotheSophists,whostressedtherhetor'sability
Kairosasportrayedina16thcentury
toadapttoandtakeadvantageofchanging,contingent
frescobyFrancescoSalviati
circumstances.InPanathenaicus,Isocrateswritesthateducated
peoplearethosewhomanagewellthecircumstanceswhichthey
encounterdaybyday,andwhopossessajudgmentwhichisaccurateinmeetingoccasionsastheyariseand
rarelymissestheexpedientcourseofaction".

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KairosisalsoveryimportantinAristotle'sschemeofrhetoric.Kairosis,forAristotle,thetimeandspace
contextinwhichtheproofwillbedelivered.Kairosstandsalongsideothercontextualelementsofrhetoric:
TheAudience,whichisthepsychologicalandemotionalmakeupofthosewhowillreceivetheproofand
ToPrepon,whichisthestylewithwhichtheoratorclothestheproof.
InAncientGreece,kairoswasutilizedbybothofthetwomainschoolsofthoughtinthefieldofrhetoric.
ThecompetingschoolswerethatoftheSophists,andthatoftheiropposition,ledbyindividualssuchas
AristotleandPlato.Sophismapproachedrhetoricasanartform.Membersoftheschoolwouldtravel
aroundGreeceteachingcitizensabouttheartofrhetoricandsuccessfuldiscourse.Inhisarticle"Towarda
SophisticDefinitionofRhetoric",JohnPoulakosdefinesrhetoricfromaSophisticperspectiveasfollows:
"Rhetoricistheartwhichseekstocaptureinopportunemomentsthatwhichisappropriateandattemptsto
suggestthatwhichispossible."[3]AristotleandPlato,ontheotherhand,viewedSophisticrhetoricasatool
usedtomanipulateothers,andcriticizedthosewhotaughtit.
KairosfitsintotheSophisticschemeofrhetoricinconjunctionwiththeideasofpreponanddynaton.These
twotermscombinedwithkairosaretheirkeystosuccessfulrhetoric.AsstatedbyPoulakos,Prepondeals
withthenotionthat"whatissaidmustconformtobothaudienceandoccasion."[4]Dynatonhastodowith
theideaofthepossible,orwhatthespeakerisattemptingtoconvincetheaudienceof.Kairosinthe
Sophisticcontextisbasedonthethoughtthatspeechmusthappenatacertaintimeinorderforittobemost
effective.Ifrhetoricistobemeaningfulandsuccessful,itmustbepresentedattherightmoment,orelseit
willnothavethesameimpactonthemembersoftheaudience.
Aristotleandhisfollowersalsodiscusstheimportanceofkairosintheirteachings.InhisRhetoric,oneof
thewaysthatAristotleusestheideaofkairosisinreferencetothespecificityofeachrhetoricalsituation.
Aristotlebelievedthateachrhetoricalsituationwasdifferent,andthereforedifferentrhetoricaldevices
neededtobeappliedatthatpointintime.OneofthemostwellknownpartsofAristotle'sRhetoriciswhen
hediscussestherolesofpathos,ethos,andlogos.Aristotletieskairostotheseconcepts,claimingthatthere
aretimesineachrhetoricalsituationwhenoneneedstobeutilizedovertheothers.[5]

Modernrhetoricaldefinition
Inhisarticle"CriticalRhetoricalEthnography:RethinkingthePlaceandProcessofRhetoric",AaronHess
submitsadefinitionofkairosforthepresentdaythatbridgesthetwoclassicalapplications.Hessaddresses
Poulakossviewthat,Inshort,kairosdictatesthatwhatissaidmustbesaidattherighttime.[6]Healso
suggeststhatinadditiontotimelinesskairosconsidersappropriateness.AccordingtoHess,kairoscan
eitherbeunderstoodas,"thedecorumorproprietyofanygivenmomentandspeechact,implyingareliance
onthegivenorknown"oras,"theopportune,spontaneous,ortimely."[7]Althoughthesetwoideasofkairos
mightseemconflicting,Hesssaysthattheyofferamoreextensiveunderstandingoftheterm.Furthermore,
theyencouragecreativity,whichisnecessarytoadapttounforeseenobstaclesandopinionsthatcanalter
theopportuneorappropriatemoment,i.e.kairos.Beingabletorecognizetheproprietyofasituationwhile
havingtheabilitytoadaptonesrhetoricallowstakingadvantageofkairostobesuccessful.Hesssupdated
definitionofkairosconcludesthatalongwithtakingadvantageofthetimelinessandappropriatenessofa
situation,thetermalsoimpliesbeingknowledgeableofandinvolvedintheenvironmentwherethesituation
istakingplaceinordertobenefitfullyfromseizingtheopportunemoment.

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Hess'ssomewhatconflictingperspectiveonkairosisexemplifiedbythedisagreementbetweenLloydF.
BitzerandRichardE.Vatzabouttherhetoricalsituation.Bitzerarguesthatrhetoricalsituationsexist
independentofhumanperspectiveasituationinvitesdiscourse.Hediscussesthefeelingofamissed
opportunitytospeak(kairos)andthetendencytolatercreateaspeechinresponsetothatunseized
moment.[8]However,VatzcountersBitzer'sviewbyclaimingthatasituationismaderhetoricalbythe
perceptionofitsinterpreterandthewaywhichhechoosestorespondtoit,whetherwithdiscourseornot.It
istherhetor'sresponsibilitytogiveaneventmeaningthroughlinguisticdepiction.[9]Bitzer'sandVatz's
perspectivesadddepthtoHess'sideasthatkairosisconcernedwithbothtimelinessandappropriateness.On
onehand,Bitzer'sargumentsupportsHess'sclaimthatkairosisspontaneous,andonemustbeableto
recognizethesituationasopportuneinordertotakeadvantageofit.Ontheotherhand,Vatz'sideathatthe
rhetorisresponsiblereinforcesHess'ssuggestionoftheneedtobeknowledgeableandinvolvedinthe
surroundingenvironmentinordertofullyprofitfromthesituation.

InChristiantheology
IntheNewTestamentkairosmeans"theappointedtimeinthepurposeofGod",thetimewhenGodacts
(e.g.Mark1.15,thekairosisfulfilled).Kairos(usedapproximately81timesintheNT)seemstobean
indeterminatetime,a"moment"ora"season,"whereasanotherGreektermchronos(used54times)refers
toaspecificamountoftime,suchasadayoranhour(Acts13.18,27.9,etc.).
IntheEasternOrthodoxandEasternCatholicchurches,beforetheDivineLiturgybegins,theDeacon
exclaimstothePriest,',KairostoupoiesaitoKyrio,"("Itistime[kairos]
fortheLordtoact")indicatingthatthetimeoftheLiturgyisanintersectionwithEternity.
InTheInterpretationofHistory,neoorthodoxLutherantheologianPaulTillichmadeprominentuseofthe
term.Forhim,thekairoiarethosecrisesinhistory(seeChristianexistentialism)whichcreatean
opportunityfor,andindeeddemand,anexistentialdecisionbythehumansubjectthecomingofChrist
beingtheprimeexample(compareKarlBarth'suseofGeschichteasopposedtoHistorie).IntheKairos
Document,anexampleofliberationtheologyinSouthAfricaunderapartheid,thetermkairosisusedto
denote"theappointedtime","thecrucialtime"intowhichthedocumentortextisspoken.

Seealso
Carpediem
Kla(time)
MadeleineL'Engle(Kairos)
Rhetoricalvelocity
Rtu
Ichigoichie

Notes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

"(DictionaryEntry)".HenryGeorgeLiddell,RobertScott,AGreekEnglishLexicon.Retrieved20150713.
E.C.White,Kaironomiap.13
Poulakos,John(1983)."TowardaSophisticDefinitionofRhetoric".PhilosophyandRhetoric16(1):3548.
Poulakos,John(1983)."TowardaSophisticDefinitionofRhetoric".PhilosophyandRhetoric16(1):3548.
Kinneavy,JamesCatherineEskin(2000)."KairosinAristotle'sRhetoric".WrittenCommunication17(3):432

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6.
7.
8.
9.

KairosWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

444.doi:10.1177/0741088300017003005.
Poulakos,John(1983)."TowardaSophisticDefinitionofRhetoric".PhilosophyandRhetoric16(1):3548.
Hess,Aaron(2011)."CriticalRhetoricalEthnography:RethinkingtheplaceandProcessofRhetoric".
CommunicationStudies62(2):138.doi:10.1080/10510974.2011.529750.
Bitzer,Lloyd(January1968)."TheRhetoricalSituation".PhilosophyandRhetoric1:116.
Vatz,Richard(1983)."TheMythoftheRhetoricalSituation".PhilosophyandRhetoric6.3:15560.

Furtherreading
MickDoherty,"Kairos:LayersofMeaning(http://english.ttu.edu/kairos/layers/start.html)"(Deptof
English,TexasTechUniversity)
JackLondon.ToBuildaFire.LostFace.NewYork:TheMacmillanCompany,1910.
PaoloMoreno,L'attimofuggenteinArcheomagazine(XXII,10,260),October2006,pp.114117.
R.B.Onians,TheOriginsofEuropeanThought(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1951),
pp.34349
LeonardSweetMissedMoments(Rev.MagazineJan/Feb2005),pp.36
E.C.WhiteKaironomia:onthewilltoinvent(IthacaandLondon:CornellUniversityPress,1987)
MarkRFreier"Kairos:IntheMidstofOrdinaryTime,KairosHappen!"[1]
(http://growinghealthypassion.com/kairos.pdf)
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