GRICE’S MAXIMS

Why conversation works.

GRICE’S ‘LOGIC OF CONVERSATION’ Conversation works – even when we

don’t say what we mean. Why it works so well fascinated

philosopher Paul Grice. He wondered about conversations such as this:

Jack: You’ve got a mountain to climb.Lily: It’s better than a slap in the face.

What is going on here, and how do we know?

PAUL GRICE (1913 –1988) British educated philosopher of

Language

Spent the last two decades of his career in the U.S.

GRICE’S ‘LOGIC OF CONVERSATION’ Grice concluded that conversation must

follow its own set of logical principles or ‘rules.’

He worked out how, even when we don’t mean what we say – that the full pragmatic force of our utterance is easily understood, as in this example:

Lily: This bottle’s half empty already!Jack: Gosh – is that the time already?

What does ‘pragmatic’ mean?

GRICE’S INSIGHTS Grice decided that communication is a

co-operative activity: when two people communicate it’s in their own best interests to make it go as smoothly as possible.

Speakers behave in certain predictable ways.

GRICE’S ‘CO-OPERATIVE 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“ (Paul Grice)

This translates into 4 maxims:

Quality - Manner Quantity - Relation

1. QUALITY

“Do not say what you believe to be false.” “Do not say that for which you lack

evidence.”

So... When someone speaks to us, we assume:

- that what they say is not knowingly untruthful.- that the truthfulness of what they say does not

need to be made stated.

2. QUANTITY “Make your contribution as informative

as is required.” “Do not make your contribution more

informative than is required.”

So... When someone speaks to us, we assume:

- they do not purposefully hold back anything that is important

- they do not give more information than is asked.

3. MANNER “Be perspicuous” (clearly understood) “Avoid obscurity of expression” “ Be brief” “Be orderly”

So, when someone speaks to us, we assume:

- That what they say is being said as straightforwardly as they can say it.

4. RELEVANCE “Be relevant.”

So... When someone speaks to us, we assume:

- That what they say is relevant to the conversation.

THE GRICEAN MAXIMS In short...

1. Be true 2. Be brief 3. Be clear 4. Be relevant

These maxims ensure that conversation is maximally efficient, rational and co-operative. It also ensures that we understand conversation.

MAXIMS IN ACTION A. “How do I get to Sainsbury’s, mate?” B. “Go straight ahead, turn right at the school,

then left at the bus stop on the hill.”

Speaker A assumes that:- B believes his directions to be genuine – the

maxim of quality;- B believes the information to be sufficient – the

maxim of quantity;- B believes his directions are to Sainsbury’s – the

maxim of relevance;- B believes the information to be clear – the

maxim of manner;

NOT FOLLOWING THE MAXIMSYou can choose to ignore the maxims –

usually to create a particular effect

A speaker can choose to:

Violate – be intentionally misleading Opt-out – refuse to co-operate Flout – be intentionally ironic

Can you think of any examples of

conversations you have had / heard recently where

maxims have not been followed?

EXAMPLES OF NOT FOLLOWING A MAXIMJoke from comedian Les Dawson. Not too bright, that particular lad. A salesman found

him sitting on the doorstep one day. ‘Is your mother at home sonny?’ he asked. ‘Yes, replied the boy. So the salesman knocked on the door for a few minutes, then tried ringing the bell; finally he resorted to bashing on the window – all to no avail. ‘I thought you said your mother was at home,’ he snapped at the boy. ‘she is,’ came the reply, ‘only this isn’t our house.’ Is this violating /

flouting/ opting out? Which

maxim is being flouted?

‘VIOLATING’ A MAXIM This is an interview between Jeremy

Paxman and Michael Howard. The leader of the opposition violated the maxim of relation by not giving an answer that related to the question:

Paxman: Did you threaten to overrule? Howard: I was not entitled to instruct Derek Lewis

and I did not instruct him. Paxman: Did you threaten to overrule him? Howard: The truth of the matter is that.

‘OPTING OUT’ Here, Paxman asks the Prime Minister a

question; the minister opts out of the maxim of relation:

Paxman: “When will war become inevitable?”

PM: “ Well I know you have to ask that question but it’s the kind of question I cannot answer.”

FLOUTING• This is the most important ‘use’ of Grice’s maxims.

• Unlike ‘violating,’ ‘flouting’ a maxim allows a speaker to signal that although they seem to be ‘violating’ a maxim, they are still co-operating.

“MMM, Donuts.”

“Homie, those pants look awful tight to me.”

TASK 1. Read the script and see if you can

identify

when Grice’s Maxims are being followedwhen Grice’s Maxims are being broken, and

more importantly...How? Which rules are not being adhered to?

2.Then have a go at writing your own scripted conversation in which Grice’s Maxims are broken.

MORE ON GRICE’S MAXIMS

Implicature

RECAP Match the term to the definition

Term DefinitionOpt out Be intentionally ironicManner Do not be perspicuousQuality Be intentionally

misleadingViolate Say something relevantQuantity Say enough but not too

muchFlout Do not lieRelevance Refuse to co-operate

CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURE What Grice calls ‘implicature’ occurs

when a speaker chooses to flout a maxim.

The listener, assuming that the speaker still intends being cooperative, looks for meaning, other than that which is said.

The intended meaning will be arrived at through the speaker working out the pragmatic force of the utterance rather than the semantic sense?

What are semantics?

IMPLICATUREFlouting the maxim of…

A: I hear you went to the theatre last night; what play did you see?

B: Well, I watched a number of people stand on the stage in Elizabethan costumes uttering a series of sentences which corresponded closely with the script of the Twelfth Night.

Which maxim is

being flouted?

What can we infer about the quality of

the acting?

IMPLICATUREFlouting the maxim of …

A: What are you baking?

B: Be and I are tee aitch dee ay wye see ay kay ee.

Which maxim is

being flouted?

What can we infer about the

information being communicated to A?

IMPLICATUREFlouting the maxim of…

A lecturer to his student:“So let me say straight away, James, that your essay is beautifully printed, the font has been immaculately well chosen and the positioning of those staples is a work of sheer genius…”

To James, the comment is not relevant to what he wants to hear – so he assumes the lecturer has ‘flouted the maxim’ of relevance.

BUT…James assumes the teacher is still co-operating in the conversation by taking his turn, so he must be saying something relevant about the essay. What can we / James

infer about the quality of the essay?

HOW THIS IMPLICATURE WORKS On first inspection , such a comment is

apparently not relevant to what James wants to hear – so he could assume that teacher has ‘flouted the maxim’ of relevance.

BUT, James assumes the is still co-operating by taking his conversational turn, leaving James to assume he IS saying something relevant about the quality of the essay. Therefor he is flouting the maxim of manner.

SO, the listener assumes that the speaker assumes that the listener can work it out…

GRICE IN WRITING So far we have looked at how the Maxims

are adhered to, or not, in conversation.

However, many kinds of communication operate as interactions, a sort of ‘one sided’ conversation – letters, advertisments, and so on. Applying Grice’s maxims to written texts can allow us to develop subtle insights.

GRICE IN WRITING It’s more difficult to flout Grice’s maxims

in writing because it’s not so easy to ensure that your reader understands what is happening.

Why?

You lose prosodic features like stress and

intonation. You also lose

paralinguistic features like body

language.

• What maxims are being flouted?

• What implicatures are being created?

• To what effect?

• For what purpose?

TASK We are going to look at a transcript of

conversation together.

I then want you to work individually to write an analysis of this extract, looking for:

- Grice’s maxims - followed or not?- If not, which maxim is being ignored

and in which way? Why?- What does this say about: the context of the conversation, the speakers, their relationship to one another etc.