On Three Theories of Implicature

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On Three Theories of Implicature: Default Theory, Relevance Theory and Minimalism ABSTRACT Grice’s distinction between what is said by a sentence and what is implicated by an utterance of it is both extremely familiar and almost universally accepted. However, in recent literature, the precise account he offered of implicature recovery has been questioned and alternative accounts have emerged. In this paper, I examine three such alternative accounts. My main aim is to show that the two most popular accounts in the current literature (the default inference view and the relevance theoretic approach) still face significant problems. I will then conclude by suggesting that an alternative account, emerging from semantic minimalism, is best placed to accommodate Grice’s distinction. Paul Grice’s distinction between what is said by a sentence and what is implicated by an utterance of that sentence is, of course, extremely familiar. It is also almost universally accepted. However, in recent literature, the precise account he offered of implicature recovery has been questioned and alternative accounts, emerging from different semantic programmes, have emerged. In this paper, I would like to examine three such alternative accounts. My main aim is to show that the two most popular accounts in the current literature (the default inference view and the relevance theoretic approach) still face significant problems. If this is right then there is a reason to look for a third alternative and in conclusion I’ll suggest that it is the approach emerging from so-called semantic minimalism which is best placed to accommodate Grice’s fundamental distinction between what a sentence means and what utterances of it implicate. To keep things relatively constrained I’m going to focus my attention on three desiderata which it seems plausible a successful theory of implicature should
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