The Morality of Breaching, Efficiently

“Better break your word than do worse in keeping it.” The suggestion is particularly compelling when breaking the promise leaves no one worse off, while keeping it is strictly worse for any or all parties. What is the point of performing such a promise when it can be avoided? Granted, dynamic considerations may call for credible commitments to carry out promises that are inconvenient to all concerned, but commonsense surely favors avoidance of those obligations that serve no purpose other than fulfilling themselves. Often, of course, these obligations are not just naked promises—they are also legally enforceable, but that does not alter the basic point.