The Co-operative principle and Implicature Done by Ihtiyorjon (이튼)

The four co-operative maxims

A principle proposed by the philosopher Paul Grice whereby those involved in communication assume that both parties will normally seek to cooperate with each other to establish agreed meaning. It is composed of four maxims: quality, quantity, relation, and manner.

The maxim of quality (“Tell the truth”)

• Do not say what you believe to be false.
• Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
• Example:

A: are you at the office?

B: yes, I am. You will see me at room 12 of Halley building.

The maxim of quantity (“Say just as much as is necessary”)

• Make your contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange, do not make the contribution more or less informative than is required.

Example

• Example:

A: Do you think that smoking is good for health?

B: No, I think it’s not good for our health.