Language and State by Yu Xing

Author:Yu, Xing
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780761866411
Publisher: University Press of America
Published: 2015-08-17T16:00:00+00:00

2. Oath

Contract includes promises made by people for their mutual cooperation on the basis of equality. People make contract on voluntary basis. Thus they usually make and implement the contract on the basis of equality. For example, when a customer and a service provider make a contract, they perform exchange on the basis of equality. One party provides certain service while the other makes payment for that service. Contract, thus, provides a basis for the cooperation between strangers within the state. Unlike the tribe, a state is the community in which strangers perform cooperation. This means that when men form their state, they interact with each other. Their interaction leads to the formation of common interest. Making contract is one of those mutual interactions performed by them within the state for their mutual benefit. By contrast, oath is another kind of promise made between those who interact with each other not on the basis of equality though oath, in essence, is also a linguistic act performed for cooperation, a sort of the interaction performed for the good of men. Of course, oaths may be classified into declaratory oath and promissory oath. However, as an oath is usually taken in the presence of a witness or by a holy thing, promise is made to that witness who acts as an authority or is emphasized by showing that holy thing. In other words, after the state is formed, some men are in charge of the organization of the state while others are subject to the organization of the state. Those who are in charge of organizing the state are a small number of people while those who are subject to the organization of the state are a large number of people. The state cannot be organized by all. As those who organize the state are a small number of people, they become important. Others need to be subject to the directives of them. As they are of higher level in some sense, those who are subject to the organization of the state are of lower level in some sense. As a result, the cooperation between those of higher level and those of lower level is prone to be directed by those of higher level. They require those of lower level to promise to act as required by the organization of the state so that they can formulate and implement the scheme of the organization of the state or the building of the state. In other words, when men make promises, they actually make promises to each other. However, when the state is organized, the organizers require those subject to the organization of the state to solemnly, sincerely and truly affirm their promise though the organizers may also make promise to them. The promises made by those of lower level are explicit while the promises made by those of higher level may be implicit. The cooperation realized by men by virtue of contract is horizontal while the cooperation realized by men by virtue of oath is vertical.

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