Oaths – Vows – Contracts – Promises

Binding the Future

The future evolves in unpredictable ways and this clashes with a fundamental human urge for certainty about the future in personal matters.

The question is: how can a person reliably commit, that is to say bind their self, to an unknown future?

Commitments about the future may be made using a promise or pledge that is presented as an assurance of what may be expected. Similar terms include: my word, my bond, my undertaking, my guarantee, my warranty. All these notions create an obligation—but one that is not always met even with the best intentions.

So: what more can be done?

Then....

In the past, two powerful notions developed that are no longer much in use: 
the Oath and the Vow.

These used «a solemn swearing» to invoke a higher sacred power as a witness and enforcer of human intention.

The Oath is an external quasi-legal commitment, still used in courts of justice for witnesses ("I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth"), jury members and interpreters. In the past, it included a curse ("may the Gods strike me dead"), and in Courts today perjury remains an instant serious crime. Those in the military are often expected to swear oaths of allegiance or oaths of office. Similar oaths may be asked of police officers, judicial appointments, citizens at naturalization, and monarchs.

The Vow is an internal devotional commitment, in which a promise is made directly to a deity or sacred entity, often in exchange for a favour or to facilitate some event.
Examples Closed:

A person in a desperate need or seriously ill may vow to dedicate themselves to a life of charitable works if by some miracle they are rescued or cured.

In The Mahabharata, Bhishma renounces his claim as the Crown-Prince of Hastinapur and makes a vow of celibacy to ensure he will not produce heirs who might compete for the throne.

Oaths and Vows worked because they took a person out of a mundane state and moved them into a sacred sphere. The relevant intention moved from being a preferred desire to becoming a necessary and unavoidable cosmic obligation. Others also believed that any breach would lead to eternal damnation or worse, and this enabled safe dependency and cooperation in the community.

... and Now

Mechanisms of confidence and trust have shifted.

  • Secularization has meant that there is little fear of divine retribution, and taking oaths in Courts has become just a formality.

  • Institutions that previously administered oaths, like the Church and State, have been shown to be untrustworthy and hypocritical so often that skepticism has replaced belief.

  • Contracts that are binding under the law have replaced moral bonds created by vows and oaths, with judicial rulings providing for remedies if the contract is broken.

  • Ethical values of authenticity and personal growth have become part of modern culture and vows like "till death do us part" seem to be counter-productive rather than the basis of freedom and character.

Promises

Promises and pledges are still used because they meet a psychological need in relationships. A promise remains a form of obligation that gets its strength from the trust that the other has in the promiser.

Should the promise be broken due to circumstances wholly beyond the person's control, forgiveness is possible. If the promise is broken wantonly, then trust is lost and the relationship gets irreparably damaged. Future promises lose most of their value.

In society, the profession most characterized by explicit promises is politics. These promises are routinely broken which explains why politicians are the least trusted class in society.

Parents and friends regularly use promises to manage feelings in the relationship, to maintain bonds and to provide predictability.

The various functions in G2-dyads are not presented as promises but appear to serve that function with much at stake personally if broken.

Originally posted:  12-Jun-2026.