Reading for Tue 9/15 & Thu 9/17: Grice, “Logic & Conversation”

For next week, read the paper entitled “Logic and Conversation” by H.P. Grice.  You can find a PDF version of it in the “Readings” section of the website.

(Remember that the readings are password-protected:  you can find the password on your printed copy of the syllabus.)

Grice’s paper (and the lectures from which it originates) are the original source for our theory of conversational implicatures.  Luckily, it’s fairly accessible, even for beginning semanticists.  (Though don’t fret if you get bogged down in the introductory section…starting reading closely once you get to the section entitled “Implicature”.)

As I said in class, the Grice paper and the Levinson reading (for Thu 9/10) cover much of the same material.  So use the two readings in tandem to solidify your understanding.  If the Levinson reading was perfectly clear, then use the Grice paper to reinforce/test your understanding.  If you found Levinson difficult to follow, then use the Grice paper to achieve greater clarity.