In his Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten of 1785, Immanuel Kant tests his moral law on a few cases. In the second case, a man sieht sich durch Not gedrungen, Geld zu borgen. He finds himself forced by need to borrow money. He knows he cannot pay it back, and he is tempted to promise it anyway. Kant asks what would happen if this were a general law. Anyone in need could promise whatever came to mind, mit dem Vorsatz, es nicht zu halten, with the intention of not keeping it. Such a law würde das Versprechen und den Zweck, den man damit haben mag, selbst unmöglich machen. It would make the promise itself impossible, and also the purpose one may have with it. No one would believe that anything had been promised to him. People would laugh at all such statements als eitles Vorgeben, as empty pretense.