Liability for failing to rescue
Law and Philosophy 1 (3):391 - 418 (1982)
| Abstract | Should there be civil liability when a person who could easily and without risk rescue another fails to do so? It is argued that the failure to act does not cause the harm that follows, and that the misfeasance/nonfeasance distinction provides no basis for liability. In spite of this, it is maintained that there can sometimes be a duty to rescue, and even a right to be rescued, even in the absence of a voluntary undertaking or an explicit assumption of responsibility.There are convincing arguments for some sort of legal recognition of a duty to rescue, but these arguments do not support tort liability. Nor is a case for tort liability made with the argument that a growth of tort law in this direction would be compatible with the values most centrally involved in the division between torts and contracts. Furthermore, there is a case against tort liability — namely, that the purpose of tort liability is to compensate, that there are certain sorts of situations in which compensation is apposite, and that failure to rescue does not fit into these categories. Criminal liability is the appropriate way for the law to recognize a duty to rescue. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,705 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesAlan Strudler (1992). Mass Torts and Moral Principles. Law and Philosophy 11 (4):297 - 330.
Toby Handfield & Trevor Pisciotta (2005). Is the Risk–Liability Thesis Compatible with Negligence Law? Legal Theory 11:387-404.
Jeff McMahan (2005). The Basis of Moral Liability to Defensive Killing. Philosophical Issues 15 (1):386–405.
D. R. Cooley (2003). Strict Joint and Several Liability and Justice. Journal of Business Ethics 47 (3):199 - 208.
John R. Danley (2005). Polishing Up the Pinto. Business Ethics Quarterly 15 (2):205-236.
R. G. Frey & Christopher W. Morris (eds.) (1991). Liability and Responsibility: Essays in Law and Morals. Cambridge University Press.
Aaron Kirschenbaum (1980). The Bystander's Duty to Rescue in Jewish Law. Journal of Religious Ethics 8 (2):204 - 226.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads33 ( #36,617 of 549,223 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,397 of 549,223 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
