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Conversational Implicatures and Cancellability

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Abstract

In this paper I argue against a criticism by Matthew Weiner to Grice’s thesis that cancellability is a necessary condition for conversational implicature. I argue that the purported counterexamples fail because the supposed failed cancellation in the cases Weiner presents is not meant as a cancellation but as a reinforcement of the implicature. I moreover point out that there are special situations in which the supposed cancellation may really work as a cancellation.

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Notes

  1. See also Neale, 1992, p. 512. I have in Borge 1997 made a few preliminary steps towards a better understanding of the connections between the theory of conversational implicatures and speaker’s meaning

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Tromsø, 9037, Tromsø, Norway

    Steffen Borge

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  1. Steffen Borge
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Correspondence to Steffen Borge.

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Borge, S. Conversational Implicatures and Cancellability. Acta Anal 24, 149–154 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12136-009-0049-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12136-009-0049-1

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