L’esemplarità tra religione, etica minima ed etica massima

The essay explores the topic of moral motivation. The hypothesis outlined is that theories of so-called “minimal ethics” have many limits due to the fact that they underestimate the role of motivation in moral life and moral action. On the other hand, theories of “maximal ethics” attempt to account for moral excellence (as in the case of supererogation), by developing a theory of moral motivation, pointing out exemplars of morally outstanding behaviour. With regard to exemplarism, the contemporary theory of Linda T. Zagzebski is discussed, while also referring to the classical contributions of Max Scheler and Henri Bergson. It is noteworthy that theories of maximal ethics, in this case, often use a lexicon of religious origin, such as when speaking of moral "saints".