How We Trust One Another -- Oswald Hanfling
Posted in Philosophy on 16/12/2009 - 11:22
How is the possibility of promising explained without circularity?
Why, having promised you to do X, should I do X? What if I thought you were not counting on me to do what I promised? Then my reasons for keeping a promise would be diminished. Why bother if you don’t expect something of me? You might expect me to keep my promise, but your expectations would be weakened too if you thought that I thought you’re not counting on me to do X. And if I thought you thought that, again my reasons for keeping a promise would be diminished even more. And on and on.
Given these sorts of obvious worries, how is the practice of promising possible?
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We - us - our - is - up
Posted by Stephen Round on 2010-01-08 11:46:05 UTC
Any sense of common identification is liable to erosion when the phenomena of an increasing population density is realised. A promise is based upon a bond of trust which is established by the sharing of a mutual exclusivity. The ideal of - we - is devalued,all forms of commonality decay into mere gobbledegook generally utilised by conmen and criminals like politicians and royalty ... to become traps for the unwary.
conscience
Posted by Johanna Ridley on 2010-02-14 10:57:49 UTC
A promise is given and done through your conscience, you would feel guilty haven given a promise and not carried it out. You give a promise in the first place for lots of different reasons, not always selfish or for self gratification
Promises and Obligations
Posted by Dennis Sceviour on 2010-03-14 15:27:02 UTC
Remember Henry Sidgwick: "I have no idea how to impart a notion of moral obligation on anyone devoid of it. (The Methods of Ethics)."