Resumen

PAPAYANNIS, Diego M.. Contracts and Promises in the Dynamics of Personal Relationships. Rev. Fac. Der. [online]. 2025, n.59, e201.  Epub 01-Dic-2024. ISSN 0797-8316.  https://doi.org/10.22187/rfd2025n59a1.

This paper explores the role of contracts and promises in managing our personal relationships. It critically examines the tradition of viewing contracts as promises, with particular focus on the theories of Charles Fried and Dori Kimel. After outlining the main theses of each theory, the paper discusses some of the challenges they face in accounting for the contractual phenomenon. It concludes by suggesting that while both promises and contracts serve important functions of coordination, cooperation, and socialization, only contracts enable us to engage with others in highly complex collective endeavours. This capacity significantly expands personal autonomy in a way that promises and other informal arrangements cannot match.

Palabras clave : contracts; promises; personal relationships; autonomy; intrinsic value; instrumental value; coordination; cooperation.

        · resumen en Español | Portugués     · texto en Español     · Español ( pdf )