  The contrast between nonmaleficence and beneficence notwithstanding, ordinary morality suggests that there are some rules of beneficence that we are obligated to follow impartially, such as those requiring that we make efforts to rescue strangers under conditions of minimal risk to ourselves. Even some legal punishments (as they exist in some legal jurisdictions) for failure to rescue strangers may be justifiable. Significant controversies have arisen in both law and moral philosophy about how to formulate and defend such requirements, but one influential idea has been to argue that a person P has an obligation of beneficence to help another whenever the other is at risk of significant loss of or damage to some basic interest; P’s action is necessary (singly or collaboratively) to prevent this loss or damage; P’s action (singly or collaboratively) is likely to prevent the loss or damage; and P’s action does not present significant risks, costs, or burdens to P while the benefits that the rescued person can be expected to gain outweigh any burden that P is likely to incur.