This paper considers the history and nature of the ‘modern rule of releases’, concerning compromises to settle or preclude litigation. The rule holds that only matters the parties had contemplated as well as what they intended to release will in fact be released, even if the compromise has been made in the most general terms. Thus the rule is engaged when the releasor executes a general release but does not appreciate the existence of some of the claims the words used purport to release. This paper shows how the rule is a confusion of different conceptual bases and lines of authority and was created by accidentally muddling them together. It argues that, despite this, it successfully straddles both bases, functions well conceptually and serves a vital role.

中文翻译：

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现代发布规则

本文考虑了“现代释放规则”的历史和性质，涉及解决或排除诉讼的妥协。该规则认为，只有当事方已经考虑过的事项以及他们打算发布的内容实际上才会被发布，即使已经以最一般的方式做出了妥协。因此，当免责人执行一般免责但不理解某些声称要免责的词语的存在时，就会采用该规则。本文展示了该规则如何混淆了不同的概念基础和权威界限，并且是通过将它们意外混淆在一起而创建的。它认为，尽管如此，它成功地跨越了两个基础，在概念上很好地发挥了作用，并发挥了至关重要的作用。