In an influential essay entitled “Logic and Conversation,” Paul Grice argues that every conversation should be guided by certain rules that relate to a common principle. This principle brings together the participants in the conversation to do the following: “Make your contribution to the conversation, as required, to the extent that it takes place, in the perceived purpose or direction of the conversation in which you are involved” (1989, 26 ).
From this principle, Grice separates four categories of rules and maxims – quantity, quality, attitude, and manner.
The quantity affects the transfer of the accumulated information by each participant in the conversation, under this leading section fall two maxims:
1. “Make your contribution to the conversation just as informative as required” and
2. “Do not make your contribution more informative than required.”
Quality refers to the reliability of the information transmitted. This includes the supermaxima – “Try to make your contribution true”, and this supermaxima includes two more specific directives:
1. “Don’t say what you think is wrong” and
2. “Don’t say what you lack adequate evidence for.”
The order “Be precise (appropriate)” falls under the category of relationships, and the supermaxima “Be clear” falls under the category of manners.
Under the requirement of clarity are, of course, many maxims. The most important of them are:
1. “Avoid obscurity”
2. “Avoid duality”
3. “Be short” and
4. “Be tidy.”
As can be seen, Grice himself has spent more words than necessary to postulate his conversation rules, so he probably violates his own requirements for quality.
