Is It Ever Moral to Break a Promise? Free Essay Example

Promise-keeping is the fulfillment of a pledge. It is important for people to keep promises for various reasons, such as enhancing a strong trust bond among people. When people make promises, they became trustworthy and also earn respect from others. However, there are some instances that make it hard for an individual to keep a promise, such as in instances of unpredictable factors at the time of promise-making.

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Question 1

Promise-keeping is morally important because it helps in keeping faith in an individual, boosts self-esteem and confidence as well as it helps other people to view an individual as mature, reliable, and trustworthy. Also, it is morally important to keep promises since it helps to find a peaceful balance and helps an individual to be on track and achieve life goals. Promises mean that one is requesting another person to trust them for their word. If the person is able to fulfill the promise, one builds trust with the other. However, if an individual fails to keep the promise, trust is destroyed, and it is, therefore, important to keep promises. Promise-keeping is also important in relationships where a spouse makes a promise to stay with his wife or husband both in good and bad situations, thus making them able to progress in life. It is morally important to keep promises since they portray that an individual has integrity and honesty. Therefore, a promise is trust among people to fulfill certain pledges, and people should always be encouraged to keep their promises unless in situations and conditions that make it hard to keep the promise.

Question 2

There are various conditions which render promise-breaking morally acceptable. There are instances when it is simply not possible to make a promise that an individual has made. Some of the conditions that render the breaking of a promise morally acceptable include explaining the reason for breaking the promise, apologizing for promise-breaking, understanding that the people promised will be disappointed, as well as looking for a way to honor the original intent.

Question 3

It is ever morally obligatory to break a promise. The future is always unpredictable, and there are factors that may make it hard to fulfill a promise.

Question 4

Some of the conditions that render promise-breaking morally obligatory include instances where there is an event that once unseen at the time of making the promise, and it is incompatible with the promise and thus conflicting with the pledge made. If a certain event overrides the promise made, an individual is left with no choice other than break the promise in order to attend the event. In such a situation, the breaking of the promise is preferable to the point that it is morally obligatory. Also, another condition that makes promise-breaking morally obligatory is instances when it is discovered that a promise was made on the basis of lies or under false pretense. Also, in conditions where breaking the promise would cause more problems than keeping the promise, it would be morally obligatory to break it. Besides, in situations where an act of God is involved, it is morally obligatory to break a promise. For instance, in a situation where an individual promises one to accomplish a task and is affected by situations above his control, such as heavy rains.