Kairos
In his 1951 etymological studies of the word, Onians traces the primary root back to ancient Greek associations with both archery and weaving.
White defines kairos as the "long, tunnel-like aperture through which the archer's arrow has to pass", and as the moment "when the weaver must draw the yarn through a gap that momentarily opens in the warp of the cloth being woven".
In the literature of the classical ancient world, writers and orators used kairos to specify moments of opportune action, often through metaphors involving archery and one's ability to aim and shoot at the exact right time on-target.
The ancient Greeks formulated kairos in general as a tool to explain and understand the interposition of humans for their actions and the due consequences.
Kairos was central to the Sophists, who stressed the rhetor's ability to adapt to and take advantage of changing and contingent circumstances.
According to Hess, kairos can either be understood as, "the decorum or propriety of any given moment and speech act, implying a reliance on the given or known", or as "the opportune, spontaneous, or timely.
Furthermore, they encourage creativity, which is necessary to adapt to unforeseen obstacles and opinions that can alter the opportune or appropriate moment, i.e. kairos.
Hess'[14] conflicting perspective on kairos is exemplified by the disagreement between Lloyd Bitzer (1968)[15] and Richard Vatz (1983)[16] about the 'rhetorical situation'.
He discusses the feeling of a missed opportunity (kairos) to speak and the tendency to create a later speech in response to that unseized moment.
[15] However, Vatz counters Bitzer's view by claiming that a situation is made rhetorical by the perception of its interpreter and the way which they choose to respond to it, whether with discourse or not.
[16] Both Bitzer's and Vatz' perspectives add depth to Hess'[14] ideas that kairos is concerned with both timeliness and appropriateness.
On one hand, Bitzer's argument[15] supports Hess' claim that kairos is spontaneous, and one must be able to recognize the situation as opportune in order to take advantage of it.
[14] On the other hand, Vatz' idea that the rhetor is responsible[16] reinforces Hess' suggestion of the need to be knowledgeable and involved in the surrounding environment in order to fully profit from the situation.
[15][17] Additionally, factors such as cultural background, previous social experiences, and current mood, can influence the capacity to see and understand the correct and opportune moment of action.
Kelly Pender (2003) states the inclusion of kairos within discourse "would try to shift the focus of personal writing from the writer's experiences and emotions to a broader perspective that explicitly concentrates on the rhetorical situation ...."[19] Kairos is an expressive inclusion within the overall subject of discourse, and one that has an effect on the entire rhetoric.
[19] Christian Lundberg and William Keith (2008) describe kairos in their rhetoric guide as the concept that "there is an exact right time to deliver a message if the audience is to be persuaded.
"[20] Douglas Downs (2016) defines kairos as the principle of rhetors having little influence over their discourse, which causes them to convey what makes sense in the moment.
In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, before the Divine Liturgy begins, the Deacon exclaims to the Priest, Kairos tou poiēsai tō Kyriō (Καιρὸς τοῦ ποιῆσαι τῷ Κυρίῳ), i.e. 'It is time [kairos] for the Lord to act', indicating that the time of the Liturgy is an intersection with Eternity.
In Hippocrates' (460–357 BCE) major theoretical treatises on the nature of medical science and methodology, the term kairos is used within the first line.
"[25] In A Rhetoric of Doing: Essays on Written Discourse in Honor of James L. Kinneavy by Stephen Paul Witte, Neil Nakadate, and Roger Dennis Cherry (1992) also discusses the art of kairos in the field of science.
Citing John Swales, the essay notes that the introduction sections of scientific research articles are nothing more than the construction of openings.
This idea derives from the spatial aspect of kairos, or the creation of "an opening," which can be created by writers and discovered by readers.
