I have been making significant revisions to my work in progress “Breaking Bad Promises.” Among other things, I have included many new examples of illicit promises, i.e. promises that are either illegal or immoral, including drug deals as portrayed in some Mexican “drug ballads” or narcocorridos by Los Tigres del Norte (one of my all-time favorite norteño bands; check out their classic song “Contrabando y traición” below) as well as historical examples drawn from the Atlantic slave trade. Here, however, I shall present my fourfold taxonomy of illicit promises.

In summary, there are four possible types of illicit promises:

(i) promises that are both legal and moral,

(ii) promises that are legal but immoral,

(iii) promises that are both illegal and immoral, and

(iv) promises that are illegal but moral.

To bring these abstract categories to life, I will illustrate all four types in my next few blog posts.