第47章

Is，then，thisobligationintuitivelyseentobeindependentandcertain？

Itisoftensaidtobeso:andperhapswemaysaythatitseemssotounreflectivecommonsense。Butreflectionseemsatleasttodiscloseaconsiderablenumberofqualificationsoftheprinciple；

someclearandprecise，whileothersaremoreorlessindefinite。

Inthefirstplace，thoughtfulpersonswouldcommonlyadmitthattheobligationofapromiseisrelativetothepromisee，andmaybeannulledbyhim。Andthereforeifthepromiseebedead，orotherwiseinaccessibleandincapableofgrantingrelease，thereisconstitutedanexceptionalcase，ofwhichthesolutionpresentssomedifficulty。[1]

Secondly，apromisetodoanimmoralactisheldnottobebinding，becausethepriorobligationnottodotheactisparamount；justasinlawacontracttodowhatamanisnotlegallyfreetodo，isinvalid:otherwiseonecouldevadeanymoralobligationbypromisingnottofulfilit，whichisclearlyabsurd。[2]

Andthesameprincipleisofcourseapplicabletoimmoralomissionsorforbearancestoact:herehowever，acertaindifficultyarisesfromthenecessityofdistinguishingbetweendifferentkindsordegreesofobligatorinessinduties；sinceitisclearthatapromisemaysometimesmakeitobligatorytoabstainfromdoingwhatitwouldotherwisehavebeenadutytodo。ThusitbecomesmydutynottogivemoneytoameritorioushospitalifIhavepromisedallIcansparetoanundeservingfriend；thoughapartfromthepromiseitmighthavebeenmydutytopreferthehospitaltothefriend。

Wehave，however，alreadyseenthedifficultyofdefiningthelimitsofstrictdutyinmanycases:thus(e。g。)itmightbedoubtedhowfarthepromiseofaidtoafriendoughttooverridethedutyofgivingone’schildrenagoodeducation。Theextent，therefore，towhichtheobligationofapromiseoverridespriorobligationsbecomespracticallysomewhatobscure。

Furtherqualificationsofthedutyoffidelitytopromises，theconsiderationofwhichisinvolvedinmoredifficultyanddispute，aresuggestedwhenweexaminemorecloselytheconditionsunderwhichpromisesaremade，andtheconsequencesofexecutingthem。Inthefirstplace，itismuchdisputedhowfarpromisesobtainedby`fraudorforce’arebinding。Asregardsfraud，ifthepromisewasunderstoodtobeconditionalonthetruthofastatementwhichisfoundtobefalse，itisofcoursenotbinding，accordingtotheprincipleIoriginallylaiddown。Butapromisemaybemadeinconsequenceofsuchafraudulentstatement，andyetmadequiteunconditionally。Evenso，ifitwereclearlyunderstoodthatitwouldnothavebeenmadebutforthefalsestatement，probablymostpersonswouldregarditasnotbinding。Butthefalsestatementmaybeonlyoneconsiderationamongothers，anditmaybeofanydegreeofweight；anditseemsdoubtfulwhetherweshouldfeeljustifiedinbreakingapromise，becauseasinglefraudulentstatementhadbeenapartoftheinducementtomakeit:stillmoreiftherehasbeennoexplicitassertion，butonlyasuggestionofwhatisfalse:ornofalsehoodatall，statedorsuggested，butonlyaconcealmentofmaterialcircumstances。Wemayobservethatcertainkindsofconcealmentaretreatedaslegitimatebyourlaw:inmostcontractsofsale，forexample，thelawadoptstheprincipleof’caveatemptor’，anddoesnotrefusetoenforcethecontractbecausethesellerdidnotdisclosedefectsinthearticlesold，unlessbysomewordsoractsheproducedthebeliefthatitwasfreefromsuchdefects。

Still，thisdoesnotsettlethemoralquestionhowfarapromiseisbindingifanymaterialconcealmentisshowntohavebeenusedtoobtainit。Wehavealsotoconsiderthecaseinwhichanerroneousimpressionhasnotbeenwilfullyproduced，butwaseithersharedbythepromiseeorproducedinsomewayunintentionally。Perhapsinthislastcasemostwouldsaythatthebindingnessofthepromiseisnotaffected，unlessitwasexpresslyconditional。ButonallthesepointsCommonSenseseemsdoubtful:andsomewhatsimilardifficultiespresentthemselveswhenweendeavourtodefinetheobligationofpromisespartlyobtainedbysomedegreeofillegalviolenceandintimidation。

But，secondly，evenifapromisehasbeenmadequitefreelyandfairly，circumstancesmayaltersomuchbeforethetimecomestofulfilitthattheeffectsofkeepingitmaybequiteotherthanthosewhichwereforeseenwhenitwasmade。Insuchacaseprobablyallwouldagreethatthepromiseeoughttoreleasethepromiser。Butifhedeclinestodothis，itseemsdifficulttodecidehowfarthelatterisbound。Somewouldsaythatheisinallcases:whileotherswouldconsiderthataconsiderablealterationofcircumstancesremovedtheobligation——perhapsaddingthatallengagementsmustbeunderstoodtobetakensubjecttoageneralund