Day and Twilight of Promise (a Promise in a Literary Context and in the Light of a Performative Theory)

This article discusses the phenomenon of promise - in its philosophical, linguistic, and social contexts. The author analyzes the theory of performative speech acts of J. Austin and J. Searle, the controversy of Searle and J. Derrida; while mentioning also the role of the concept of "promise" in the philosophy of F. Nietzsche and P. Ricoeur. The theme of the promise is comprehended in its relation to such different areas of philosophical research as the problem of subject identity, the problem of society as a system of interpersonal interactions, the problem of performative judgments, problem of temporality in its existential aspect. The author seeks to show that the more ontologically significant aspects of the promise are the subject of attention, the more there is disagreement about them among philosophers and linguists. As some kind of literature analogue of theoretical reflections on subject, the article advocates a literary work that allows you to look at the promise in terms of its relationship with the life project and at the same time as a plot-forming element of the autobiographical work.