Between Promise and Contract: The Limits of Application of Philosophical Discourse on Promises to Theory of Contract Law Cover Image

Między obietnicą a umową: Granice zastosowania filozoficznego dyskursu o obietnicach w teorii prawa kontraktowego
Between Promise and Contract: The Limits of Application of Philosophical Discourse on Promises to Theory of Contract Law

Author(s): Szymon Osmola
Subject(s): Civil Law, Analytic Philosophy, Philosophy of Law, Philosophy of Law
Published by: Ośrodek Badań Filozoficznych
Keywords: promise; contract; Fried; autonomy

Summary/Abstract: The concept of promise may be very interesting for legal theorists, especially contract law theorists. The article aims to briefly discuss the issue of promises in contemporary analytic philosophy and show some of its possible applications in legal theory. Three basic approaches will be distinguished: the contract as a promise paradigm (in C. Fried’s formulation) and two ways of its critique: formal and material. The contract as a promise paradigm will be rejected as incapable of coping with, among others, the so-called autonomy paradox. Arguments of formally-affected critics will be recognized as basically correct but impossible to be fully accepted because of their formalism. Some propositions of the material critique will be deemed the most promising, despite their incompleteness and numerous errors.

  • Issue Year: 2018
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 111-128
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: Polish