Post 2: Maxims

Question:

Grice’s (1975) cooperative principle assumes that people cooperate in the process of communication in order to reduce misunderstandings. In order to comply with this principle, speakers need to follow a number of sub principles or maxims.

a) Define each of these maxims.

b) Explain the differences between ‘quietly violating’ a maxim and ‘openly flouting’ a maxim?

Answer:

Paul Grice, an English Philosophe introduce the concept of the cooperative principle in his article “Logic and Conversation” (Syntax and Semantics, 1975). Grice believes that human beings will be conversational cooperative when they communicate. As humans, we are social beings that requires communication to socialise, when we talk we assume without realising and so as the person we are talking to. To achieve mutual conversational ends, we cooperate.

Grice argued that for someone to interpret what is said by other person, some kind of cooperative principle is assumed to be in operation which are commandments that people tacitly follow to further the conversation effectively and that is the four sub-principles he called maxims. The four maxims humans follow to be cooperative and understood formulated by Grice are Maxim of Quality, Maxim of Quantity, Maxim of Relation and Maxim of Manner.

I) Maxim of Quality

As speaker, truth must be prioritised. Do not lie or state something that is not provable by adequate evidence.

Example of the following rule:

Ahmad: Where were you this morning during briefing?

Aminah: I was absent due to being late.

In the example, Aminah tells the truth about her whereabouts to Ahmad.

II) Maxim of Quantity

Speaker must provide nothing less or more than the conversation requires. Be informative by providing helpful amount of information.

Example of the following rule:

Ahmad: Are you going to class tomorrow?

Aminah: No

In the example, Aminah responded to Ahmad by providing straight answer without adding any other information.

III) Maxim of Relation

Speaker has to be relevant by stating things that are pertinent to the conversation.

   

Example of the following rule:

Ahmad: When is your birthday?

Aminah: I was born on October 31st

In the example, Aminah provide accurate information that is relevant to Ahmad’s question.

IV) Maxim of Manner

As Speaker, statements must be clear, brief and orderly as possible and avoid being obscure and ambiguous.

Example of the following rule:

Ahmad: Why are you moody today?

Aminah: I failed my math test and forgot to bring my purse.  

In the example, Aminah responded by providing brief reason to why she’s moody without exaggerating.

b)  Differences between ‘quietly violating’ a maxim and ‘openly flouting’ a maxim

I) Quietly Violating a Maxim

According to Grice (1975), Violation takes place when speaker intentionally refrain to apply certain maxims in their conversation to cause misunderstanding or to achieve other purpose. In a simple form, quietly violating a maxim refers to the speaker lying or refuse to tell the truth by avoiding to answer the question directly.

Example of quietly violating a Maxim:

Ahmad: Have you finished your part for the group assignment?

Aminah: I’m so hungry, aren’t you? Let’s have Lunch.   

In the example, Aminah doesn’t answer Ahmad’s question instead she responded with another question that is not relevant to the conversation. It is certain that Aminah change the topic because she is trying to evade the interrogation posed by Ahmad.

II) Openly Flouting a Maxim

Unlike quietly violating a maxim, openly flouting a maxim is When speaker have no intention to deceive or mislead hearer. Speaker may flout the maxim so as to deliver implicitly a sarcastic tone in what they state.

Example of openly flouting a Maxim:

Ahmad: That’s the nicest outfit I’ve seen in my entire life.

Aminah: I woke up late today, I had no time to find anything else.

In the example, it is obvious that Ahmad is teasing Aminah on her choice of outfit and his purpose wasn’t to praise Aminah. Aminah notice the purpose of Ahmad’s sarcasm and in return explain why she was wearing the outfit.

I believe that to ensure miscommunication or misunderstanding in communication does not occur, it is significant that we follow Grice's Maxims in our daily life as it guides us on ways to obtain information that we Inquire.