Turning a moment into The Moment: Kairos and Social Action
Podcast:
This podcast begins by questioning the oft-declared statement, "Now is the time." It is easy to see our situation, our "now," as THE moment of flux, THE pivotal moment of change. But how can every moment be THE moment? This podcast uses Eric White's Kaironomia to explore how in fact it is possible for every moment to be momentous -- how every moment can in fact be full of a particular, albeit contingent, urgency.
Opening and closing music: Kaiser Chiefs, "Modern Way"
Audio clip from President Obama's 2011 State of the Union address, available on npr.org.
(17 votes)
Comments
Kairos and Black Flag
I was fascinated by White’s analysis of dissoi logoi and am glad that you decided to focus on it in your discussion of the moment. I’ve also cringed slightly when people discuss our moment, our generation, our chance… it does seem egotistical. It also seems too categorical for me—that is the branching off of generations as if older or younger people could not work with one another despite the differences in upbringing and shared immediate experiences. But I think of the moment often—far too often.
It can be a burden: the thought of perpetually trying to seize the day. I think often of my heroes, people whom I wish to imitate, and wonder what they are doing right now. Chances are something very similar to what I’m doing right now. And immediate example comes to mind: yesterday I saw Henry Rollins in my supermarket. This person I idolized for inventing, within his moment, contingent upon the contingent cool of the 80s, some of my favorite music with Black Flag. However, there he was, shopping. I think of him as eternal kairos, forever touring, forever seizing his moment. Then I get down on myself for not doing the same.
Your podcast focused specifically on White’s seemingly problematic but ultimately beneficial marriage of Aristotelian logic and Gorgianic contingency: there is a certain logic to be embraced within the contingency of our moment. In fact, it is our only option for proceeding. So you end embracing what you found troublesome initially, which I find rewarding and positive. Although it might be troublesome to always feel you must seize the moment since every moment will become the moment when it arrives, it is nice to know that it is always an option. Just as neither Henry nor I seized a musical moment in the supermarket; it was just as available to either of us. The combination you encourage in your podcast is inspiring because it shows that kairos need not be some metaphysical abstraction floating out there; we can initiate it. We just need to be willing to embrace the contingency of truth and the Gorgianic rhetoric in Aristotelian certainty.