Promises, Oaths, and Vows: On the Psychology

Considering that getting along in civil society is based on the expectation that (most) people will do what they say they will do, i.e., essentially live up to their explicit or implicit promises, it is amazing that so little scientific attention has been given to the act of promising. A great deal of research has been done on the moral development of children, for example, but not on the child's ability to make and keep a promise, one of the highest moral achievements. What makes it possible developmentally, cognitively, and emotionally to make a promise in the first place? And on the other hand, what compels one to keep a promise (or vow or threat) when there seems to be no personal advantage in doing so, and even when harm can be predicted? How do we know when a promise is offered seriously to be taken at face value, and how do we understand that another is only a polite gesture, not to be taken seriously? In Promises, Oaths, and Vows: On the Psychology ofPromising , Herbert Schlesinger addresses these questions, drawing on the literature of moral development in children; the psychotherapy of a patient who regularly broke promises that were unnecessary in the first place; those who were regarded as promising youngsters" who did not fulfill their "promise"; and those who feared making a promise

Herbert J. Schlesinger is Clinical Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, and Supervising Analyst, Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research.

Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Promising and Morality	p. 1
The Scientific Study of Morality	p. 3
The Everyday Meaning of Promising	p. 4
Categories of Promises	p. 6
Promising and Culture	p. 9
Promising and Rationality	p. 12
Why Do We Make Promises? Promise Keeping as One of the Defining Acts of Morality: Philosophical, Historical, and Legal Background	p. 15
A Definition of Promising	p. 19
Why Do We Keep Promises?	p. 25
Promising and the Theory of Mind in Development	p. 27
Memory versus Perception	p. 29
Self from Other	p. 29
Past from Present and Present from Future	p. 29
Internal and External	p. 30
Word and Deed	p. 30
Theory of Mind and Magical Thinking	p. 31
Magical Thinking and Psychoanalysis	p. 31
Empirical Studies of Moral Development	p. 35
Empirical Studies of Intention and Will	p. 40
The Psychology of Intention	p. 41
Reflections on the Implications of Lewin's Research	p. 43
Developmental and Regressive Aspects of Making and Breaking Promises	p. 47
Case Example	p. 48
A Bit of Theory	p. 50
Case Example, Continued	p. 58
Implications for Technique	p. 71
Mature and Regressive Determinants of the Keeping of Promises	p. 77
Case Examples	p. 81
Promising and Psychopathology: Regression and Magical Thinking	p. 83
The Psychology of Intention	p. 89
Implicit Promising and the Implicit Promise	p. 93
The Person to Whom Life Has Failed to Keep Its Promises	p. 93
The Promising, but Problematic, Patient as an Analytic Candidate	p. 101
Detecting the "Narcissistic Core" of the Problematic Applicant	p. 102
Problems Arise as These Analysts Age	p. 105
Problems for Terminating the Analysis of a Once Promising but Problematic Patient	p. 107
Another Variety of the Problematic "Promising" Patient	p. 110
The "Promiser" Who Fails to Live Up to His "Promise"	p. 113
Promising in the Clinic	p. 117
Promises of Patients	p. 117
Promises of Clinicians	p. 121
Exception 1	p. 121
Exception 2	p. 128
Promising as an Element of Form and Content in Greek Drama	p. 131
Psychoanalysts and Literature	p. 131
The Tragic View of Life	p. 133
Promising as a Formal Element in Greek Drama	p. 138
The Tragic View of the Hero	p. 147
The Tragic Hero in Relation to Personality Development	p. 149
Promising in Shakespearean Drama	p. 151
Action and Delay in Psychosexual Development	p. 158
Promising as a Device Dramatists Use to Heighten Dramatic Tension	p. 160
A Gloss on Oedipus and Hamlet	p. 160
The Comedies	p. 166
The Historical Plays	p. 168
Forms of Promising in Religious Practices	p. 173
The Covenant Form	p. 176
The Covenants of the Old Testament	p. 181
The Oath Form	p. 188
Epilogue	p. 199
References	p. 201
Index	p. 209
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Promises, Oaths, and Vows: On the Psychology of Promising

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