Promises are concrete assurances that one gives as proof that one will definitely do something or that something will happen. It tends to be a commitment to follow through on your word. A promise stands for affirmation of love, friendship, fervent human connection, a sign of eminent commitment, hard work, and a given level of intimacy. Promises by definition are supposed to stand the test of time.
It is impossible to dissociate promises from trust. In the same way, it isn’t possible to isolate the breakage of a promise from disloyalty. The more you trust someone, the more their promises mean the world to you. It is as though trust lays down a stronger foundation over which the promise builds its house so firm.
So, at what point does one walk away from a promise or confess their failure to meet it? What is the ideal time for one to declare their inability to hold oneself to one’s word? How does one take away the sensational anticipation and joy of expectation without risking a throbbing episode of emotional destruction and a sobbing manifestation on the face of the one looking forward to the fulfilment of that promise?
Furthermore, how does one deal with the news of a broken promise or a non-fulfilled pledge? How does one maintain their plight and move forward with the one going against their word without a possibility of resentment and mistrust? Or even more radically, does one get to blame the one who has broken their promise or gone against their own word? Perhaps, understanding if one should hold the other accountable in the first place is a great place to draw our verdict later in conclusion.
Read – Destination Charti – An Article by Mawuli Fianyo, Ghana
Well, perhaps the question is more philosophical than one may anticipate. For all we know, philosophy has a strange way of representing facts. For starters, it is vital to question the state of affairs, whether the same person who promised is the same person who is breaking the promise.
The thought experiment of the Ship of Theseus, a paradox from the field of identity metaphysics throws more light on the matter if not more complication. The ship of Theseus was an artefact in a museum, kept in memory and honour of the legendary king named Theseus who supposedly founded the city of Athens. Over time, its planks that would rot were replaced with new planks of the same material and the same dimensions. When no original plank remains, is it still the ship of Theseus? Secondly, if those removed planks are restored and reassembled free of the rot is it still the ship of Theseus? This philosophical narrative becomes interesting when superimposed on human vs change perspective. We may not be the same person we were several years or days ago. Nevertheless, we are still considered the same person so that we are even held by our promises.
Read – Some Themes to Consider When Writing Children’s Literature
Noson S. Yanofsky, in his article “The Ship of Theseus and the Question of identity”, contemplates that “We each have different bodies and can say that every person is identified with their body. By postulating that a human being is their body, we are subject to some insoluble questions that we face in the Ship of Theseus and other physical objects. Our bodies are in constant flux. Old cells die and new cells are constantly being born. In fact, most of the cells in our body are replaced every seven years.” This points to a likelihood of one being a different person. In our case perhaps, even a different person from the one who made a promise in the first place. In fact, later in the same article, Yanofsky, poses a question “Who is the real you? The one who is madly in love with someone or the one who is bored with the same person two months later?” Or more vividly in our situation, Who is the real you? The one who promised someone heaven and earth or the one who is bored with the same person? The one who sees no value in the fulfilment of a promise and decides to break it two months later?
Regardless of what side one might be on, one ought to stand at a place of cutting another some slack, knowing well that as much as they need to hold the others by their word, there is room for withdrawal and non-fulfilment, without triggering disloyalty sensations nor unleashing emotion debris over the one withdrawing it.
