Grices Cooperative Principle, Maxims of Conversation
& Conversational Implicature
Objective: Given a short dialogue which makes use of the maxims, identify the maxim in play, and explain your answer. If applicable, explain the implication created. The Cooperative Principle A basic underlying assumption we make when we speak to one another is that we are trying to cooperate with one another to construct meaningful conversations. This assumption is known as the Cooperative rinciple. As stated in !. . Grice"s #$ogic and Conversation% &'()*+, -ake your conversational contribution such as is re.uired, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged. i In other words, we as speakers try to contribute meaningful, productive utterances to further the conversation. It then follows that, as listeners, we assume that our conversational partners are doing the same. /ou can think of reasons why someone might be uncooperative in conversation &maybe they"re being interrogated for information they don"t want to give up0 maybe they hate the person they"re talking to0 maybe they"re 1ust cra2y+ but in the vast ma1ority of conversations, it"s safe to assume that both participants are trying to be cooperative. This assumption &that the cooperative principle holds, and the people we"re speaking to are trying to cooperate+ explains two things, &i+ why speech errors are often ignored &or even go unnoticed+ in conversation. As long as the meaning the speaker is trying to get across is clear, the listener usually gives them the benefit of the doubt and focuses on the meaning. &ii+ why we can find meaning in statements which, on the surface, seem ridiculous, untrue or unrelated &i.e. metaphors, sarcasm, overstatement, understatement, etc.+ 3ather than assuming that our conversational partner is lying, cra2y, or speaking at random, we assume they"re trying to get across some meaning, and we can figure out what that meaning is. The Maxims of Conversation Grice came up with the following maxims of conversation. &A #maxim% is kind of like a rule of thumb. 4ut these rules aren"t nearly as hard and fast as the Cooperative rinciple, as we"ll see.+ Quantity -ake your contribution as informative as re.uired. &5on"t say too much or too little.+ -ake the strongest statement you can. Quality 5o not say what you believe to be false. 5o not say that for which you lack ade.uate evidence. Relation 4e relevant. &6tay on topic.+ Manner Avoid obscurity of expression. Avoid ambiguity. i