The Motivation for the Conversation——Rationality

In 1957, Grice suggested the theory of meaning-nn as a theory of communication. Later, he developed Cooperative Principle (CP) as guidelines for the efficient and effective use of language in conversation. Some philosophers and linguists try to develop and modify the Grice's Cooperative Principle or attempt to challenge the validity of this and suggest some other principles. However, very few try to explore the driving force behind conversation. What is the mechanism underlying the use of a sentence to convey extra meaning? After a more detailed examination of Grice's work on philosophy and language, we discover that the importance of rationality is shown throughout his work. Therefore we can conclude that rationality, not the cooperation, is the real motivation, though Grice invents the Cooperative Principle. Cooperation is the realization of rationality applied at the level of discourse.

The Motivation for the Conversation——Rationality

In 1957, Grice suggested the theory of meaning-nn as atheory of communication. Later, he developed Cooperative Prin ciple(CP) as guidelines for the efficient and effective use of language in conversation. Some philosophers and linguists try to develop and modify the Grice's Cooperative Principle or attempt to challenge the validity of this and suggest some other principles.However, very few try to explore the driving force behind conversation. What is the mechanism underlying the use of a sentence to convey extra meaning.? After a more detailed examination of Grice's work on philosophy and language, we discover that the importance of rationality is shown throughout his work. Therefore we can conclude that ratio nality, not the cooperation, is the real motivation, though Grice invents the Cooperative Principle.Cooperation is the realization of rationality applied at the level of discourse.