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"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means": Inherent Misunderstanding in Language and How it Illuminates Wayne Davis's Criticisms of Gricean Theory within Pragmatics

Potter, Archie A., II
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1398208890

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, Philosophy (Arts and Sciences).
H. P. Grice was the first to provide a systematic account of pragmatics and implicature. He did this through various maxims and principles he saw as helping to identify, discern, and generate the implicatures we find in language. In 1998 Wayne Davis published Implicature, Intention, Conversation, and Principle in the Failure of Gricean Theory (1998) in which he presented many criticisms for Gricean theory. The three main objections Davis gives are the problem of determinacy, calculability, and differentiation. These problems show Grice's theory is unable to discern when an implicature is present and when it is not. I contend when one views misunderstanding as an inherent part of language, resulting from the opacity of other minds and that language is used to communicate mental states, that one sees that the problems Davis presents can be classified as types of misunderstandings of communication. Thus, given these problems and considerations any theory of communication or natural language must account for these types of misunderstanding.
Scott Carson, PHD (Advisor)
Robert Briscoe, PHD (Committee Member)
Jeremy Morris, PHD (Committee Member)
83 p.
Philosophy
H P Grice; Wayne Davis; Philosophy; Philosophy of language; Pragmatics; misunderstanding; Implicature; theories of meaning

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Potter, II, A. A. (2014). "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means": Inherent Misunderstanding in Language and How it Illuminates Wayne Davis's Criticisms of Gricean Theory within Pragmatics [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1398208890

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Potter, II, Archie. "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means": Inherent Misunderstanding in Language and How it Illuminates Wayne Davis's Criticisms of Gricean Theory within Pragmatics . 2014. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1398208890.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Potter, II, Archie. ""You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means": Inherent Misunderstanding in Language and How it Illuminates Wayne Davis's Criticisms of Gricean Theory within Pragmatics ." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1398208890

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.