The mechanical key to conversation is reproduction. When a speaker says something, what the speaker says is reproduced in the mind of the hearer. In general, it may be reproduced with perfect fidelity or with less than perfect fidelity.

In Goethean conversation, we want the contents expressed to be reproduced with universal fidelity. We want everyone to have the same content in mind from conversational moment to conversational moment.

When fidelity fails, conversation fails. When fidelity is refined and brought to new heights of precision, the conversation exalts and initiates the self-consciousness of those who participate.

That at any rate is the theory.

What we try to do in Goethean conversation, from moment to moment, is ensure by various cooperative techniques that the current content is reproduced universally. Call this:

(P2) The principle of universal reproduction