Origins & Early Life

Herbert Paul Grice (13 March 1913 – 28 August 1988), usually publishing under the name H. P. Grice, H. Paul Grice, or Paul Grice, was a British philosopher of language who created the theory of implicature and the cooperative principle (with its namesake Gricean maxims), which became foundational concepts in the linguistic field of pragmatics.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

His work on meaning has also influenced the philosophical study of semantics. Born in Birmingham, Grice was educated at Clifton College and then at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. After a brief period teaching at Rossall School, he went back to Oxford, firstly as a graduate student at Merton College from 1936 to 1938, and then as a Lecturer, Fellow and Tutor from 1938 at St John's College. Among his pupils was P.F. Strawson, who he would later collaborate with.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

During the Second World War Grice served in the Royal Navy; after the war he returned to his Fellowship at St John's, which he held until 1967. In that year, he moved to the United States to take up a professorship at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught until his death in 1988. He returned to the UK in 1979 to give the John Locke lectures on Aspects of Reason...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Albert Camus — Contemporary (Born in 1913) (1913): Philosopher and writer known for Absurdism, The Stranger, and The Plague.
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• Al-Shafi'i — Shared historical date (08-28 · Born) (767): Founder of the Shāfiʿī school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence and jurist.
• Armie Hammer — Shared historical date (08-28 · Born) (1986): American actor known for roles in 'The Social Network' and 'Call Me by Your Name'
• 1913 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1913
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