The Oath

June 22, 2009

Students at Harvard Business School decided this year to pledge to an oath of good ethical business conduct. The MBA Oath was voluntary and student-led. More than half of the 800 students who graduated this year took the oath. The students made the promise to “serve the greater good,” “act with utmost integrity” and shun from “decisions and behavior that advances my own narrow ambitions, but harm the enterprise and the society it serves.”The recent corporate scandals surely must have influenced the proponents of the Oath. Many CEOs of the major financial scandals in recent history graduated from top universities. Furthermore, in recent years, most of Harvard’s MBA students were hired to work on Wall Street.

The concept of oaths is not new. In the Jewish tradition we find that God Himself swears that He will “never again curse the ground because of man.” (Gen: 8:21) In the Greco-Roman tradition, the Athenian statesman and orator Lycurgus in 324 B.C.E said: “It is the oath which holds democracy together.”

Taking an oath is positive because it indicates a determination “to do the right thing” but unless it is adhered to, has no real meaning.

An oath can also have a negative purpose. The SS did take an oath to Adolf Hitler and abided by it, but to do evil.

Today public servants, attorneys and physicians take a public oath. To become a U.S. citizen by naturalization, one has to take an oath of allegiance to the United States. In marriage, couples make a vow of fidelity to each other and that is the cornerstone of their relationship.

Why do oaths play such an important role in society and why are public promises necessary?

We could assume that if one decides to become a physician, it would be to best serve the patients? The same assumption can be made in the legal profession. Someone who decides to become an attorney would want to serve the best interest of his clients at all times.

However we know by experience that such assumptions are not realistic. Dr. Hebert J. Schlesinger, in his book Promises, Oaths and Vow: On the Psychology of Promising believes that “promising can be viewed as additional reinforcement to overcome a wish to undermine the promise.” We are somehow aware when we make a promise that we will be tempted at one time or another in the future to forget our idealism and high principles and fall into the attraction of personal benefit. A public promise can help us stay on the “narrow path.” It helps us remember our commitment, sets standards and makes us accountable to ourselves and to others.

Making and keeping promises is considered one of the highest moral achievements.

As Hannah Arendt once said:
“Every organization of men, be it social or political, ultimately relies on man’s capacity for making promises and keeping them.”

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