Legality vs. Morality

To quote the San Francisco Chronicle,

"A man died of thirst during a wilderness-survival exercise designed to test his physical and mental toughness, even though guides had water. They didn't offer him any because they did not want to spoil the character-building
experience."

When I saw article, which you can read in full at the following link: Man Dies of Thirst During Survival Test, I was struck by a feeling of disbelief. My initial reaction was incredulity at the thought that Dave Buschow's trail guides had water and didn't give it to him, instead letting him suffer through delirium before finally collapsing from dehydration and exhaustion.

To my horror, after reading the entire article, I realized that the company that commissions these adventure treks--Boulder Outdoor Survival School--could not be held liable for their actions, because Buschow had signed a waiver agreeing that he was risking his life by signing up to take the $3,175 course.

Despite the fact that he basically signed a death wish, exercising his own free will to challenge his body during the 28-day course, I still felt that the trail guides had some moral obligation to help him. I mean, emergency situations call for emergency actions. It brings the question of responsibility into play: are we ultimately responsible for our own actions, owning nothing to those around us?

I should hope not. A world where legal contracts take precedent over good decisions and moral actions seems like a very bleak world indeed. And yet... isn't that the world we live in?