Time

Kairoi is the ancient Greek term used to signify an opportune or supreme moment, sometimes seen as the spelling “Karios” [1]. It was used in a wide variety of Greek texts such as: Parmenides by Plato, Ajax by Sophocles, Agamemnon by Aeschylus, etc [2]. The Greeks had two terms to signify time. Chronos was used to specify sequential or chronological time and had a quantitative meaning. While, kairoi was used to signify an indefinite amount of sequential time in which something significant occurs [3].

The term is used by Isocrates in Encomium of Helen, “But speeches of general import and credibility and the like are devised and spoken through many forms (ideai) and circumstances (kairoi) that are difficult to learn.” [4] Here Isocrates is discussing speech formation and the proper circumstance, or opportune moments, to deliver them. The term is used by Isocrates again in Against the Sophists, “But to choose from these the necessary forms…not to mistake the circumstances (kairoi) …and to speak the words rhythmically and musically…require much study and are the work of a brave and imaginative soul.” [5] Again Isocrates is discussing rhetoric and the proper uses. He states that determining the proper circumstances, or supreme moment, to deliver such rhetoric is in fact of large significance to the success of what is being said. This opportune moment of releasing the ideas into the world, require substantial study, significant imagination and braveness to execute at the proper moment.

In contemporary American society, the English term of circumstances, derived from kairoi, has come to mean the societal limitations or advantages of a particular situation or group with no regard to the proper moment [6]. Rhetorically, this is a drastic alteration in meaning. An opportune moment is difficult to specify and entirely subjective upon the objective of the rhetor. However, situational factors are much more specific and pragmatic when constructing rhetoric. This more defined use of the term gives greater control to the rhetor and removes a level of subjectivity that is undesirable in a field of specification and exactness.

Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower is a book regarding a particular situation and the conditions that allowed the completion of an action [7]. This book is not sighting the significance of a particular opportune moment; rather it is relaying the situational factors that played a significant role in allowing the author to accomplish her goal. In addition, the same usage is applied in pedagogical situations. The Critical Pedagogy Reader is a book containing essays on pedagogy from some of the major critical thinkers in the field. It uses the term circumstances to specify situational conditions, “These circumstances include the control of black bodies…the surveillance and repression of black bodies…and the coercive control of black bodies...”[8] Here in a book designed for the most critical users of pedagogy, is an example of the use of circumstances, not as an opportune moment for something specific to occur, but rather as the situational factors surrounding an occurrence.

Word Count: 499

[1] http://www.lexilogos.com/english/greek_ancient_dictionary.htm
[2] http://old.perseus.tufts.edu/cache/perscoll_PersInfo.html
[3] http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Kairos
[4] Isocrates. Encomium of Helen.
[5] Isocrates. Against the Sophists.
[6] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/circumstance
[7] http://www.amazon.com/Extraordinary-Circumstances-Journey-Corporate-Whistleblower/dp/0470443316/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254329259&sr=1-2
[8] Darder, A., Baltodano, M., Torres, R. D. (2003) The critical pedagogy reader.