Date of Award
Spring 3-21-2011
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Philosophy
First Advisor
Assistant Professor Christy Hartley - Chair
Second Advisor
Associate Professor Andrew I. Cohen - Committee Member
Third Advisor
Professor Andrew Altman - Committee Member
Abstract
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Thomas Scanlon provides a theory of why we ought to keep our promises according to which the wrong of breaking a promise is a moral wrong that does not depend on any social practice. Instead a promise provides a recipient with assurance and the value of assurance establishes a moral obligation to keep our promises. However, it is often charged that theories like Scanlon’s are untenable because they are subject to a vicious circularity. I address some recent critics of Scanlon’s theory, all of whom maintain that his account does not adequately show how a promise provides assurance and therefore does not overcome the charge of circularity in explaining why we are obligated to keep our promises. I revise Scanlon’s theory and show how a promise can provide a recipient with assurance, demonstrating that Scanlon’s account is a tenable theory of why we have an obligation to keep our promises.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/1927345
Recommended Citation
Thomsen, Hunter T., "Providing Assurance on Scanlon's Account of Promises." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2011.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/1927345