What's wrong with promising to try?

There is often something wrong with merely promising to try to φ . In this article I explain what is wrong with such promises. I argue that a promise to try to φ , when it is entirely up to us to φ , is always wrong because it hides a possible choice under the veil of our susceptibility to circumstances beyond our control. I furthermore argue that this is often also the case when matters are not entirely up to us. Finally, I contend that sometimes the promise to try places undue burdens on the promisee.