Promises, obligations, and abilities

✍ Scribed by Julia Driver

• Book ID: 104736735
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1983
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 151 KB
• Volume: 44
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0031-8116
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00354102

✦ Synopsis

Consider the following three propositions:

(1) Whenever a person makes a promise to do x, he thereby puts himself under an obligation to do x. (2)

If someone is obligated to do x, then he can do x ('ought' implies

'can e ).

(3) Some people sometimes make promises they cannot keep.