obligation

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1. Legally enforceable duty to pay a sum of money, or agree to do something (or not do something), according to the terms stated in a Contract. The duty of a borrower to repay a loan, and the legal right of a lender to enforce payment.

2. Any form of indebtedness evidenced by a written promise to pay.

noun

1. An act or course of action that is demanded of one, as by position, custom, law, or religion: burden¹, charge, commitment, duty, imperative, must, need, responsibility. See obligation.
2. Something, such as money, owed by one person to another: arrearage, arrears, debt, due, indebtedness, liability. See obligation, pay/owe.
3. A condition of owing something to another: arrearage, arrears, indebtedness, debt, liability. See pay/owe.

To become obliged to do something is to ‘bind oneself ’ to do it; ‘oblige’ and ‘bind’ are Latin and Anglo-Saxon equivalents. Thus obligations must be incurred by a specific act; typically, this act will be a promise, but promises take many forms, including debts, contracts, partnerships, marriages, treaties, and conventions. Often, therefore, it is functionally necessary that the incurring of an obligation be accompanied by some solemn ceremonial, a symbolizing of the commitment, involving rings, seals, bibles, signatures, or other suitably symbolic actions and artefacts. It is also important for the meaning of the obligation that it be made, and be seen to be made, voluntarily and not under duress.

In this strict sense, political obligation is a rare and elusive thing. Naturalized citizens of a country and commissioned military officers may have political obligations of a conditional form, but the vast majority of us did not choose the state into which we were born, have no real option to leave it, and have made it no promises. To derive a general obligation in this sense, to accept the state and to obey the directives of its officials, is to attempt to square the circle. Some of the most determined attempts to achieve this end are to be found in Locke's Two Treatises of Government, published in 1690. Locke derives a ‘tacit’ consent to the laws of a state in the mere act of travelling through that state's territory and an act of choice from the failure to emigrate to the great unclaimed lands of America. The first argument stretches meaning to destruction and the second is now outdated. More recent theorists, such as Robert Nozick and John Rawls, have posited a hypothetical contract between the individual and the state; this argument suggests that we should ask of a state whether it is the sort of state we would join if states were the sort of things that are joined. This form of argument posits an interesting standard for the appraisal of states, but generates only hypothetical obligations, not real ones.

The strict sense of obligation is not the only sense. People often refer to obligations as if the word meant the same as ‘duties’; in this sense our obligations are what we ought to do according to a set of rules which are deemed to apply to us irrespective of any consent or contract we may have made. When A talks about P's duties, he may mean what the law prescribes that P should do, or what it is generally expected in society that he should do or what A thinks he ought to do. All of these senses suggest empty and tautologous ideas of political obligation: ‘You ought to obey the state because the (state) law says so’ would be a dangerous proposition if it were not so unconvincing. Strict senses of obligation may render the question of political obligation unanswerable, but looser senses leave it meaningless.

Perhaps the most profound question about political obligation concerns whether we need a theory of obligation at all. Locke was convinced that he did need such a theory, both to justify the Glorious Revolution and to prevent permanent revolution. Hume and Adam Smith, writing over half a century later, under a more stable regime, considered such a theory to be as unnecessary as it was impossible. Benevolence and sympathy lead us to cooperate with each other and the needs of the general well-being urge us to a tolerant cooperation with the state. These are the real foundations of the stable commercial society which both welcome, and Hume suggests that they are far more secure foundations than would be a precise doctrine of obligation, which would prescribe when we should and should not accept the order imposed by the state.

— Lincoln Allison

An action that is required of one. See deontological ethics, duty.

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

A generic term for any type of legal duty or liability.

In its original sense, the term obligation was very technical in nature and applied to the responsibility to pay money owed on certain written documents that were executed under seal. Currently obligation is used in reference to anything that an individual is required to do because of a promise, vow, oath, contract, or law. It refers to a legal or moral duty that an individual can be forced to perform or penalized for neglecting to perform.

An absolute obligation is one for which no legal alternative exists since it is an unconditional duty.

A contractual obligation arises as a result of an enforceable promise, agreement, or contract.

An express obligation is spelled out in direct and actual terms, and an implied obligation is inferred indirectly from the surrounding circumstances or from the actions of the individuals involved.

A joint obligation is one that binds two or more people to fulfill whatever is required, and a several obligation requires each of two or more individuals to fulfill the obligation in its entirety by himself or herself.

A moral obligation is binding upon the conscience and is fair but is not necessarily enforceable in law.

A primary obligation is one that must be performed since it is the main purpose of the contract that contains it, whereas a secondary obligation is only incidental to another principal duty or arises only in the event that the main obligation cannot be fulfilled.

A penal obligation is a penalty, such as the obligation to pay extra money if the terms or conditions of an agreement cannot be satisfied.

The legal responsibility to meet the terms of a contract. If the obligation is not met there is often recourse for the other party to the contract.

Investopedia Says:
In the financial world, obligation refers to an outstanding debt that a party must still repay - and if they do not pay, they default on the debt. For example, when the U.S. government issues Treasury bonds it has the obligation to pay back the principal to the debt holders.

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IN BRIEF: A responsibility one has.

Man always travels along precipices. His truest obligation is to keep his balance. — Jose Ortega Gasse

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Quotes:

"A should is a have to with no teeth; it is dead energy." - Ruth Ross

n

An assumed or assigned duty imposed by promise, law, contract, or society; the binding power of a vow, promise, oath, or contract.

For a list of words related to obligation, see:

• Decisions, Judgments, and Conditions - obligation: duty or payment owed to another
• Banking and Financial Services - obligation: debt security, such as mortgage or corporate bond
• Securities - obligation: debt security with required fixed payment, such as mortgage or corporate bond

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - forpligtelse, taknemmelighedsgæld

idioms:

• without obligation    uden forpligtelse

Nederlands (Dutch)
verplichting, obligatie, schuldbrief, plicht, verbintenis

Français (French)
n. - devoir, obligation, (Comm) engagement, dette, dette de reconnaissance

idioms:

• without obligation    (Comm) sans engagement

Deutsch (German)
n. - Schuldschein, Verbindlichkeit, Verpflichtung, Pflicht

idioms:

• without obligation    unverbindlich

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - υποχρέωση, δέσμευση, καθήκον, χρέος, (νομικά δεσμευτική) συμφωνία, ενοχή

idioms:

• without obligation    χωρίς υποχρέωση

Italiano (Italian)
obbligazione, obbligo, impegno

idioms:

• without obligation    senza impegno

Português (Portuguese)
n. - obrigação (f)

idioms:

• without obligation    desobrigado

Русский (Russian)
обязательство, обязанность

idioms:

• without obligation    необязательный

Español (Spanish)
n. - obligación, deber, compromiso, deuda

idioms:

• without obligation    sin obligación

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - förpliktelse, förbindelse, åtagande, plikt, åliggande, skyldighet, tacksamhetsskuld

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
义务, 债务, 职责

idioms:

• without obligation    没有义务

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 義務, 債務, 職責

idioms:

• without obligation    沒有義務

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 의무, 채무관계, 채권, 증권, 은혜, 의리

idioms:

• without obligation    의무가 없는, 채무관계가 깨끗한

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 義務, 恩義, 義理, 債務, 債券

idioms:

• without obligation    義務はない

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) التزام, واجب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חובה, נדר, התחייבות, עשיית טובה‬

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