Vhis post includes a detailed description of the concept of cooperative Principle in Discourse.
The cooperative principle is the assumption that participants in a conversation normally attempt to be informative, truthful, relevant, and clear. The concept was introduced by philosopher H. Paul Grice in his 1975 article “Logic and Conversation“.
Grice expanded his cooperative principle with the four following conversational maxim, which he believed anyone wishing to engage in meaningful, cogent conversation must follow:
Quantity:Â Say no less than the conversation requires. Say no more than the conversation requires.
Quality:Â Don’t say what you believe to be false. Don’t say things for which you lack evidence.
Manner:Â Don’t be obscure. Don’t be ambiguous. Be brief. Be orderly.
Relevance:Â Be relevant.
Flouting the Cooperative Principle
On some occasions speakers flout the cooperative principle and intend their hearer to understand this; that is, they purposely do not observe the maxim and intend their hearer to be aware of this.
Example
Chinese student: What do you do in America?
American student: I work in a bank.
Chinese student: It’s a good job isn’t it?
American student: Well, just so-so.
Chinese student: Then, how much is your salary every month?
American student: Oh no
Chinese student: What’s wrong?
American student: Why are you asking that?
Chinese student: Just asking, nothing else . . .
American student: The station isn’t far is it?
Violating the Cooperative Principle
A person is ‘violating’ a maxim if there is a likelihood that they are liable to mislead the other person.
The violation of the cooperative principle is a condition in which the speaker deliberately does not meet or obey the four conversation maxims to obtain the implicature effect in the speech and has a specific purpose such as to entertain, create funny talks, make a joke, and others.
If we violate the maxim of quality, we lie. Violating the maxim of quantity by not giving enough information, if someone finds out we can be accused of ‘being economical with the truth’, another deceit. If you like, violating the maxims amounts to breaking them ‘illegally’, just as people who steal are guilty of laws concerning theft. As with laws, some maxim violations can be more heinous than others. Lying in a court of law is disapproved, but ‘white lies’, small lies to keep the social peace, are often thought of as acceptable.
Conclusion
This blog post discusses an important component of conversational analysis called the cooperative principle. First, there is an introduction to the term and then four maxims of Paul Grice have been discussed. This post also covers flouting and violating maxims.
