Promises

Making Promises

One usually engages in economic transactions with a view to reciprocal advantage, but there are circumstances in which one cannot be certain that the other party will hold up its end of the bargain. In fact, from a standpoint of pure self-interest, it would seem advantageous not to perform on the promise if one has already received a benefit. Without promises, selfinterested agents would not be willing to assume the risk involved in transactions requiring trust or future performance; this would limit economic efficiency, and one would miss out on many beneficial transactions. To overcome these problems, to cope with the uncertainty in such exchanges, one makes a promise—a form of words that affirm the performance of future acts to those outside one's normal sphere of interest and trust. To say or write “I promise” is not just to say or write something. It is also to do something—namely, to put oneself under an obligation and to make oneself responsible to potential sanction if the promise is not kept.

A basic issue with promises is how they differ from other types of language, such as statements of intention, vows, and commitments. Some argue that the difference is only a matter of degree, not of type. A promise, in this view, is a stronger level of commitment than an intention (where one could still change one's mind) and needs to be communicated in a social context (where intentions and vows do not necessarily need to be). In another view, promising is a species of consent. It is an expression of one's consent to restrict future behavior or liberty (to not change one's mind, to carry out a particular action) in exchange for present or future benefit.

Critics of these views argue that a promise is a fundamentally unique type of utterance or statement. They insist that it produces particular expectations and creates a right on the part of the promisee, who can choose whether or not to exercise this right, as well as a new obligation on the part of the promisor. Consequently, a promise is different because it creates confidence, reliance, and trust between the two parties in a way that statements of intentions, commitments, or vows do not.

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