Why is promise-keeping morally important?
A promise holds high levels of moral responsibility and respect. When a promise is extended from one person to another most would only presume that promise-keeping overall holds a substantial level of moral importance. Extending a promise requires thoughtful consideration from both parties involved, as there is a plethora of trust required in honoring the commitment placed on the person who is on the other end of receiving the promise. Promise-keeping shows a person’s character, tact, integrity, loyalty, and dependability; and keeping promises builds strength and trust in the foundation of each and every relationship.
Is it ever morally permissible to break a promise?
There may be times and circumstances which may arise, either related or unrelated to the promise itself, that may cause a great inability of keeping said extended promise. Depending on each specific situation, a situation of imminent danger may hold moral permission to break a promise. However, breaking a promise without genuine and/or adequate reasoning also has a great potential of leading the person to whom the promise was made, to overwhelming feelings of betrayal, distrust, and pain. An individual would have to determine whether the reasoning behind breaking the promise was, in fact, worth the risk of causing detriment to the relationship overall.
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What are the conditions that render promise-breaking morally acceptable?
There are few and limited reasons, conditions, and circumstances behind rendering a broken promise morally acceptable. Reasonings that can be viewed as having genuine backing can include, but are not limited to; a sickness, family emergency, accident, work responsibility, school responsibility, an obligation to children, etc. Even though these reasonings may be morally acceptable, the fact that the promise was broken at all still runs the risk of inflicting natural thoughts of doubt within the individual to whom the promise was made.
Is it ever morally obligatory to break a promise?
Obligatory reasonings for breaking promises are even more limited than those of moral acceptability. In the same light, there are minimal circumstances that may be considered a moral obligation for breaking a promise as well. Reasonings and circumstances may even be limited to include life-or-death situations. However, even if the reasoning behind breaking a promise was due to obligatory reasonings, it still has a high potential of leading the person to whom the promise was made, to overwhelming feelings of betrayal, distrust, and pain, etc.
What are the conditions that render promise-breaking morally obligatory?
Morally obligatory conditions and reasonings that may render promise-breaking morally obligatory may include but are not limited to; situations of self-harm and/or causing harm to others. Conclusively, solely the person who has extended a promise can determine whether keeping the promise will not be harmful to others, the other person, or to themselves. As the promiser would also have to be willing to live with their decisions of potentially leading the person to whom the promise was made, to experience overwhelming feelings of betrayal, distrust, and pain. An individual’s personal and moral obligations may be the deciding factor in whether it is worth the risk to break or keep the promise originally made.
Resources
- JONES, M. S. (2017). MORAL REASONING: An intentional approach to distinguishing right from wrong.
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