Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ What’s wrong with Gricean pragmatics

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

This article characterizes Paul Grice's theory of communication as a form of intentionalism whereby it is one person's attempt to convey their mental state to the second, and the second person's interpretation of the communication as just such an effort. But is that what we really do when we communicate? Are we trying to transfer our mental states to other people? The author finds numerous problems with this view, and I'm incline to agree. To me, rather than conveying representational states, I think a communication is more like a move in a (language) game. Anyhow, if you are inclined to the view of communication as transfer, you may want to consider these objections.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Nov 03, 2024 2:58 p.m.

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