19:33 Dec 16, 2009 

I would say that "circumstances" is not a very a good idea... it sounds rather as "okolnosti"

18:01 Dec 16, 2009 

Thank you wo much to all of you, for you suggestions and points of view. It is a real shame that one cannot access a wider context that would perhaps enable us to understand the author better. I find the whole excerpt (paragraph) very challenging to translate. It is almost a philosophical point of view and nothing is ever easy with philosophy.
This is in fact an opening paragraph to the rest of the article - not very encouraging for a translator :o)
Nevertheless, the issue I would like to raise here is the following. I have been tempted to translate it as "an instrument for transformation of circumstances"... what would you think about that? You see, the word "poměry" can in its plural form also mean "circumstances, conditions, situation" as my Fronek's dictionary puts it.
I will look forward to your opinion.