In the 1960s, Grice presented us with the conversational maxims. Maxims are guidelines that we usually follow without realizing it when we have a conversation. Grice introduced the conversational maxims so that conversations could be analyzed. It concerns the quantity maxim, the quality maxim, the style maxim and the relevance maxim. Today, these principles still form the basis for conversation analysis. If these maxims are not met, it cannot be said to be a successful conversation.
Maxim of quantity (quantity maxim)
The maxim of quantity, as the name suggests, relates to the size of the message. When you create a message, you must ensure that the message is neither too short nor too long. You must take into account the person to whom you are addressing the message. Take an example of a doctor, when he has to explain a certain disease to a patient, he makes a bigger message than to a colleague. Simple enough because he knows that the patient has less knowledge in the field than the colleague.
Maxim of quality (quality maxim)
When crafting a message with the quality maxim in mind, remember never to claim things you cannot prove. You should also only say things that you really mean.
Maxim of style or manner (style maxim)
The style maxim is about how you convey the message in language. The most common mistakes that exceed the style maxim (so don’t use these methods!):
- Unstructured
- Difficult or unknown words (for the recipient)
- Ambiguous or ambiguous terms
- Vague formulations
Maxim of relevance (relevance maxim)
The relevance maxim relates to the function of the message. The message must be relevant. When you’re discussing a certain topic, you can’t just start talking about something completely different. That damages the relevance of the message. Grice does indicate that this maxim is difficult to find. Sometimes a person answers a question that is not actually asked, but the answer can be deduced from it. See the following example:
Person A: Where is my box of chocolate? Person B: Johnny was in your room this morning.
Person B obviously does not answer the question here, but it can be interpreted as an answer . Person A then thinks through what is actually meant. Namely: Jantje was in your room this morning, he probably took the box of chocolate with him. So you could again say that the answer is relevant.
Conversational maxims summarized: you can have a good conversation by…
- Don’t say more than necessary
- Don’t say less than necessary
- Just say things you mean
- Only say things you can prove
- Create structured messages
- Do not use difficult or unfamiliar words
- Do not use ambiguous terms
- Can be clearly formulated