Skip Navigation

Mind 2002 111(443):583-632; doi:10.1093/mind/111.443.583
© 2002 by Mind Association
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wilson, D.
Right arrow Articles by Sperber, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Truthfulness and Relevance

Deirdre Wilson1 and Dan Sperber2

1 University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. deirdre{at}ling.ucl.ac.uk 2 Institut Jean Nicod (CNRS & EHESS), 1 bis Avenue de Lowendal, Paris 75007, France. dan{at}sperber.com

This paper questions the widespread view that verbal communication is governed by a maxim, norm or convention of truthfulness which applies at the level of what is literally meant, or what is said. Pragmatic frameworks based on this view must explain the frequent occurrence and acceptability of loose and figurative uses of language. We argue against existing explanations of these phenomena and provide an alternative account, based on the assumption that verbal communication is governed not by expectations of truthfulness but by expectations of relevance, raised by literal, loose and figurative uses alike. Sample analyses are provided, and some consequences of this alternative account are explored. In particular, we argue that the notions of ‘literal meaning’ and ‘what is said’ play no useful theoretical role in the study of language use, and that the nature of explicit communication will have to be rethought.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Language and LiteratureHome page
B. Clark
Salient inferences: Pragmatics and The Inheritors
Language and Literature, May 1, 2009; 18(2): 173 - 212.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Mem CognitHome page
V. DEMEURE, J.-F. BONNEFON, and E. RAUFASTE
Utilitarian relevance and face management in the interpretation of ambiguous question/request statements
Mem Cognit, June 1, 2008; 36(4): 873 - 881.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.