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    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that A covenant made without present performance is valid and binding when a common power exists over both parties with sufficient right and force to compel performance.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.Obligation's normative force derives from consent or moral duty, not from the threat of external compulsion.
      ?

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    • 2.A covenant binding only because of coercive enforcement confuses prudential compliance with genuine moral obligation.
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    • 3.Hobbes thereby reduces promise-keeping to self-interest under threat, which Kant's categorical imperative tradition rejects as a foundation for genuine duty.
      ?

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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Hume argues that the obligation of promises arises from a conventional practice with intrinsic social utility, independent of sovereign enforcement.
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    • 2.If validity depended solely on a common power, promises would lose all binding force in stateless or international contexts where no such power exists, which contradicts the evident normativity of treaties and pre-political agreements.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.A coercive power capable of enforcing agreements removes the rational basis for suspicion that the other party will not perform.
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    • 2.Without the problem of unilateral betrayal, the covenant is no longer void on grounds of reasonable suspicion.
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