Hi all! I’m an academic interested in promises. I am especially interested in ‘evil’ promises; where a person promises to do something they should not do. E.g. promises to kill someone, steal something, etc… E.g. on learning of a friend’s murder, you might promise their family you will avenge their death by killing the murderer.
these are morally interesting because on the one hand the promiser is intending to do something very bad which they should not do (e.g. murder!), but on the other hand you ought to keep your promises – if you make someone a promise, then you ought to follow through…
Can anyone suggest good examples in literature of these kinds of immoral promises?
Thanks so much 🙂
by willyoueverwin
2 Comments
Needful Things by Stephen King is _all about_ evil promises.
A thrift shop opens in a small town, and the owner will sell you anything you “need” for very cheap, if you just do a little favor for him…
The town erupts into chaos because of this (all of the favors here involve doing something messed up to somebody else. On top of that, the things people are buying here, end up being totally useless).
Start with the fairy stories- agreeing to give away your first born is a common example.