There is a long tradition in the common law that refuses to recognize a legal duty to help strangers in emergency situations: the so-called Good Samaritan duty. It is not because the common law judges were heartless and did not recognize moral duties. It is because they recognized that state compulsion or legal liability should be used sparingly. They also recognized a whole host of practical problems in enforcing Good Samaritan duties.Not to recognize a distinction between the moral obligations of individuals and the role of the state is an error of profound consequences.
This is from New York University Associate Professor Mario Rizzo at the comment section of his article on Free Market Moralism, published at the NYU’s Think Markets Blog
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