Argumentation
& Critical Thinking
Conversational Implicatures
Maciej Pichlak
Department of Legal Theory and Philosophy of Law University of Wroclaw
maciej.pichlak@uwr.edu.pl
https://prawo.uni.wroc.pl/user/12147
Implicatures
Some speech acts include some suggestions which are not explicitly stated – an „implicature”.
Professor X was sober during the lecture today.
-> He is usually drunk during lectures.
Conversational implicatures are the result of assumption that speaker
observes principles of rational cooperation in conversation.
Herbert Paul Grice: conversational maxims
Cooperative Principle
Make your contribution such as it is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the
accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.
Principles as presumptions, not prescriptions!
Particular maxims
1) Maxim of Quality – „Say a truth”
• Do not say what you believe to be false.
• Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
- I have heard that Christine is cheating our clients.
- Yes, and I have heard that our HR manager is an Alien.
2) Maxim of Quantity
„Do not say too much nor too less.”
Do not make your contribution less nor more informative than required.
John has three children.
Tony is eihter in his office or in a pub.
3) Maxim of Relevance
„Be relevant.”
Make your contribution relevant.
- We are almost out of gas.
- There is a garage around the corner.
- Honey, do you now where is my chain-saw?
- There are some strange noises in the children’s room.
4) Maxim of Manner – „Be clear.”
Avoid obscurity and ambiguity, strive for brevity and order.
He shot himself and felt dead on a floor.
He felt dead on a floor and shot himself.
Beware! My uncle smoke cigarettes for 30 years and he
finally died.
Generating implicatures v.1
- Have you heard? Jimmy had a car accident today morning, and he broke his glasses.
S says p.
There are good reasons to presume that S observes Cooperative Principle, as well as other maxims.
For S to say p and to be presumed to observe maxims it is required to accept q.
______________________________________
S accepts (implicates) q.
Generating implicatures v.2
- We are almost out of gas.
- There is a garage around the corner.
Boys are boys.
S says p.
By saying p, S clearly breaches one or more maxims.
There are good reasons to presume that S observes Cooperative Principle.
For S to say p and to be presumed to observe CP it is required to accept q.
______________________________________
S accepts (implicates) q.
