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Kinneavy
Kairos: A Neglected Concept in Classical Rhetoric
In Rhetoric and Praxis, Ed Jean Dietz Moss, 79-105
1986, The Catholic University of America Press
Washington, D.C
85 two basic elements in Greek kairos: right timing and the principle of a proper
measure
87 kairos linked to ethics and justice (pythagoras, especially)
89 referring to Pindar, kairos was the critical moment of a story and building around
that
92 Kairos linked to education in classical Greek world
Education was oriented to training people for life in the polis
“the importance of the city was the common bond of humanity that it
afforded those living together and the strangers who visited them.”
Essence of polis: freed and the ability to persuade/be persuaded. Given this,
education to the life of polis is heavily grounded in persuasion and kairos.
93 “Kairos, the god, was thus symbolically linked to the public educaiton program
that prepared the young man for initiation into citizenship—the program,
incidentally, dominated by rhetoric.”
94 Kinneavy wrote “Freshman English: An American Rite of Passage” in 1977
98 incorporating kairos means including consideration of the ethics of a situation,
evaluating the values of a specific situational context
Thus, the Ss should write about ethical concerns of their interests and career
choices
Ethical consequences are both social and individual
102 “Each profession as a subculture has a rhetorical obligation to alert the culture
as a whole to new benefits and to new dangers.”
“And the rhetoric of the discipline means the ability to address the populace in
persuasive language that will be listened to.”
103 “There is no more immediate application of the principle of kairos than
establishing a real audience distinct from the classroom situation.”