supererogation

Noun

supererogation (countable and uncountable, plural supererogations)

1. An act of doing more than is required.
   • And ſithence the very thunder-lightning of your admirable eloquence is ſufficiently available to ſtrike them with a lame palſie of tongue (if they be not already ſmitten with a ſenceleſſe apoplexy in head, which may eaſely enſue ſuch contagious catharres and reumes, as I am privy ſome of them have...1593, Gabriell Haruey [i.e., Gabriel Harvey], “To right worshipfull his especiall dear friend, M. Gabriell Harvey, Doctour of Law”, in Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A...
   • And, therefore, it was thought a matter of supererogation to withdraw the nails and open the windows.1841 March, Edgar A[llan] Poe, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, in George R[ex] Graham, Rufus W[ilmot] Griswold, editors, Graham’s Lady’s and Gentleman’s Magazine. […], volume XVIII, number 4...
2. An action that is neither morally forbidden nor required, but has moral value.
   • For now let us look at the supererogation which would be contrasted with mutual aid. […] [T]here would be two fundamental types of supererogation. Supererogation 1 focuses on the same sorts of situations and the same sorts of aid covered by mutual aid, but removes the limit on the cost to the...1982, John P. Reeder, Jr., “Beneficence, Supererogation, and Role Duty”, in Earl E. Shelp, editor, Beneficence and Health Care (Philosophy and Medicine; 11), Dordrecht: D. Reidel Publishing Company...
   • According to standard definitions of supererogation, acts are supererogatory if and only if they are neither morally obligatory nor morally prohibited, but nevertheless have moral value (are morally good, etc.).1992, Phillip Montague, “Beneficence and Supererogation”, in In the Interests of Others: An Essay in Moral Philosophy (Philosophical Studies; 55), Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media, →DOI...