Promise-Keeping

Maybe I’m reading the prompt wrong but isn’t the keeping of promises an obligation rather than a right? A right is something which insulates and protects an individual from the greater whole, while an obligation is a compromise of free-will within the community such that the societal structure may operate more efficiently, and as a byproduct, the individual will also benefit. The obligation of promise-keeping (including those promises which are subconscious) allows for not only larger and greater communities, but also the emergence of an economy. As technology advances and the division of labor becomes more pronounced, the obligation of promise-keeping becomes even more important.

It is therefore not our right to keep our promises but an obligation. However, it logically follows that the promisee has the right to seek retribution on a promiser who did not hold his/her end of the bargain. This retribution may not be physical but would mostly be social, in that the false promiser would gain a reputation for his dishonestly and be either exiled or subsumed back into the whole through conformity of societal norms.

I don’t think mankind ever made a “choice” to keep its promises, but it is rather inherent and requisite within our family dynamics, and is extended to the rest of the tribe who would be generally thought of as an extended family.