H. P. GRICE

“Grice occupies a unique place in the story of ordinary language philosophy — so-called. (I prefer to qualify this as English ordinary-language philosophy, since the Oxonian dialect was all for which these philosophers cared).”

“One of Grice’s most significant early publications was an essay he wrote with with his former pupil at St. John’s, Sir (as he then was not) P. F. Strawson defending the analytic/synthetic distinction against the critique by an American visiting professor.”

“‘We will teach’em a nice lesson!’ he asserted.”

“This places Grice *alongside* the other Oxford ordinary language philosophers.”

“However, unlike the rest of them — which he derogatorily called ‘Austin’s kindergarten’ — he then went and developed a systematic theory — anathema for Austin — of conversational implicature, which offers a way of synthesizing semantic theory in the Frege-Russell mold with recognition of the role played by expectations Oxford philosophers make that everyone should be like them!”

“Grice’s main oeuvre on this occurred after he moved to (of all places) a villa up in the Berkeley in hills — so might see this as marking the beginning of the end of the dominance of Oxford and the development of a newer forms of analytic philosophy, Bay-oriented.”

“(Grice disliked yachting, but Davidson was a reasonable surfer).”

“Grice's ‘unpublications,’ as his literary executor called them — ‘and a nice mess they are, too!’ — have also been enormously influential on subsequent philosophy of language — especiallly at Oxford — “since, once an Oxonian, _always_ an Oxonian,” he did not joke!”