This article argues that the idea of conscience can play a useful, albeit limited and highly general, explanatory role in private law, if we have regard to two distinctive contexts in which it is used. First, it tells us something about how equitable obligations arise and reminds us that they directly enforce moral duties. Second, it conveys the message that the courts are reluctant to impose primary liabilities which restrict the exercise of legal rights absent a past or prospective breach of moral duty by the defendant. Without further explanation, the indiscriminate invocation of conscience in both contexts can lead to confusion and uncertainty, but if the distinction between obligation and liability is observed, the explanatory force of conscience in relation to each becomes clearer, and it plays a valuable role in bolstering the authority of private law.

中文翻译：

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私法中良心的意义和意义

本文认为，如果我们考虑到使用良心的两个不同的背景，那么良心的概念可以在私法中发挥有用的、尽管有限且高度概括的解释性作用。首先，它告诉我们公平义务是如何产生的，并提醒我们它们直接执行道德义务。其次，它传达的信息是，在被告过去或未来违反道德义务的情况下，法院不愿强加限制行使合法权利的主要责任。无需进一步解释，在这两种情况下不分青红皂白地援引良心可能会导致混乱和不确定性，但如果遵守义务和责任之间的区别，良心对两者的解释力就会变得更加清晰，