more from W. David Ross

Single Idea 18622

[catalogued under 23. Ethics / B. Contract Ethics / 3. Promise Keeping]

Full Idea

To make a promise is not merely to adapt an ingenious device for promoting the general well-being; it is to put oneself in a new relation to one person in particular, creating a specifically new duty to him, not reducible to promoting general well-being.

Gist of Idea

Promises create a new duty to a particular person; they aren't just a strategy to achieve well-being

Source

W. David Ross (The Right and the Good [1930], p.38), quoted by Will Kymlicka - Contemporary Political Philosophy (1st edn) 2.3.a

Book Reference

Kymlicka,Will: 'Contemporary Political Philosophy (1st edn)' [OUP 1992], p.23


A Reaction

Of course, a politician might make a promise to society as a whole, but even there Ross seems to be right. 'I'll do it' is not the same as 'I promise you all I'll do it', which is more personal.