Resumen de Samaritanism and political legitimacy
On Christopher H. Wellman�s Samaritan account of political legitimacy, the state is justified in coercing its subjects because doing so is necessary to rescue them from the perils of the state of nature. Samaritanism � the principle that we are morally permitted to do what is necessary to rescue someone from serious peril if in doing so we do not impose unreasonable costs on others � only justifies a minimal state, in Wellman�s view. I argue contra Wellman that Samaritanism justifies an extensive, liberal-egalitarian state.
