Philosophy Pragmatics Questions Long
In Recanati's pragmatics, implicature plays a crucial role in understanding the meaning of utterances beyond their literal interpretation. Implicature refers to the additional meaning that is conveyed indirectly or implicitly through the use of language. It involves the inferences made by the listener based on the context, speaker's intentions, and shared knowledge.
Recanati argues that implicatures are not derived from the conventional meaning of words or sentences but are generated through pragmatic processes. According to him, the meaning of an utterance is not solely determined by the speaker's intention or the linguistic context, but also by the cognitive context in which the utterance is interpreted.
One of the key concepts in Recanati's theory is the distinction between what he calls "semantic content" and "communicative content." Semantic content refers to the literal meaning of an utterance, which is determined by the conventional meaning of words and the syntactic structure of the sentence. On the other hand, communicative content includes both the semantic content and the implicatures that are generated in the pragmatic process.
Recanati argues that implicatures are generated through a process of pragmatic enrichment, where the listener goes beyond the literal meaning of the utterance to infer additional meaning. This process involves taking into account the speaker's intentions, the context of the conversation, and the shared knowledge between the speaker and the listener.
Implicatures can be categorized into two types: conventional implicatures and conversational implicatures. Conventional implicatures are derived from the conventional meaning of certain words or expressions. For example, when someone says "John is poor but honest," the conventional implicature is that being poor and being honest are somehow incompatible.
Conversational implicatures, on the other hand, are derived from the cooperative principle and the maxims of conversation proposed by philosopher Paul Grice. The cooperative principle states that in a conversation, participants are expected to be cooperative and contribute relevant and truthful information. The maxims of conversation, such as the maxim of quantity (providing enough information) and the maxim of relevance (staying on topic), guide the generation of conversational implicatures.
For example, if someone asks, "Do you have any siblings?" and the response is "I have a brother," the conversational implicature is that the speaker has only one brother. This implicature is derived from the maxim of quantity, as the speaker provides the least amount of information necessary to answer the question.
Overall, implicature plays a significant role in Recanati's pragmatics by enriching the meaning of utterances beyond their literal interpretation. It allows for a more nuanced understanding of communication by taking into account the speaker's intentions, the context, and the shared knowledge between the participants. By considering implicatures, we can better grasp the intended meaning behind an utterance and avoid miscommunication.