THE MODEL OF CONVERSATIONAL COOPERATION AND PUBLIC DEBATES

Authors

  • Constantin SĂLĂVĂSTRU Universitatea „Al. I. Cuza”, Iaşi

Keywords:

public debates, conditions of possibility, conditions of reality, cooperative principle, conversational maxims.

Abstract

This article posits a new dichotomy between conditions of possibility of public debates (rules that a speaker is acquainted with before engaging in a public debate and that enable its inception) and conditions of reality of public debates (rules that are intrinsic to the proper unfolding of a debate and which, when flouted, lead it to a deadlock). We argue that Grice’s conversational maxims can be a condition of possibility of public debates, and we focus on how their observance positively impacts debates, on how such maxims operate in the proper unfolding of public debates and on what slippages could occur. Our research findings support the applicability of the Gricean model to public debates, as an explanatory tool to unpack their specific discursive mechanisms.

References

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Published

05/22/2015

Issue

Section

DISCURS ŞI COMUNICARE ÎN SPAŢIUL PUBLIC