Date of Award

1-1-2020

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Philosophy

Content Description

1 online resource (vi, 161 pages)

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Rachel Cohon

Committee Members

Jason D'Cruz, Jon Mandle

Keywords

Convention, Hume, Practice, Promises, Scanlon, Duty

Subject Categories

Ethics and Political Philosophy | Philosophy

Abstract

In my dissertation I discuss the historical and philosophical significance of the commonplace moral phenomenon of promising and I lay out the essential features of a promise. I claim that promises have five features; they produce a moral obligation, they are directed toward another individual who holds the right to demand action and is the one wronged in case of failure, they are successful only if there is uptake, and finally that they are self-imposed. My discussion of the puzzle created by these features starts in David Hume and extends into David Owens. The need to resolve this puzzle in part generates the theories that will try to explain promises.

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