Supererogation (Late Latin: supererogatio "payment beyond what is needed or asked", from super "beyond" and erogare "to pay out, expend", itself from ex "out" and rogare "to ask") is the performance of more than is asked for; the action of doing more than duty requires. In ethics, an act is supererogatory if it is good but not morally required to be done. It refers to an act that is more than is necessary, when another course of action—involving less—would still be an acceptable action. It differs from a duty, which is an act wrong not to do, and from acts morally neutral. Supererogation may be considered as performing above and beyond a normative course of duty to further benefits and functionality.
Some philosophers have proposed a corresponding concept of suberogation – whereas supererogatory acts are praiseworthy but not morally required, suberogatory acts are morally discouraged but not prohibited. However, the concept is controversial; with some dispute as to whether suberogatory acts genuinely exist.
In theology
Catholicism
In the theology of the Roman Catholic Church, "works of supererogation" (also called "acts of supererogation") are those performed beyond what God requires.
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Later Protestant movements followed suit, such as in the Methodist Articles of Religion.
Islam
A Muslim must complete a minimum of the five daily prayers, each typically lasting an average of 5 to 10 minutes. Supererogatory prayers beyond these are known as nafl prayers, and praying them is considered to bear additional reward. There are also several other supererogatory acts in Islam, such as fasting outside of the month of Ramadhan, or giving sadaqah (charity, consisting of simple acts of kindness to financial assistance) that is not obligatory.
Parallels have been drawn between the concept of mustahabb in Islamic law and the concept of supererogatory acts in the Western philosophical tradition.
Judaism
In Rabbinic literature this principle is known as lifnim mishurat hadin (לפנים משורת הדין), lit. "beyond the line of the law".
See for elaboration, and Hashkafa for general discussion.
Additional to its practical implications, the idea is foundational in the formulation of the various sub-philosophies of Orthodox Judaism.
Cases where the principle is commonly applied are: Commenting on Deuteronomy 6.18 “And you shall do that which is right and good in the eyes of God.” They ask "what new instructions does this verse add"? Surely, doing what is “right and good” is already a part of the numerous injunctions already presented there. Both understand this verse to denote a level of behavior that is above the letter of the law.
Although celibacy is generally defined as a sin in Judaism, with no stated exceptions within Reform Judaism, Reform Judaism teaches that the cultural mandate is no longer necessary, so procreation between Jews within this sect of Judaism may be viewed as supererogatory acts.
In law and moral philosophy
Whether an act is supererogatory or obligatory can be debated. In many schools of thought, donating money to charity is supererogatory. In other schools of thought that regard some level of charitable donation to be duty (such as with the tithe in Judaism, zakat in Islam, and similar standards in many Christian sects), only exceeding a certain level of donation (e.g. going above the common 2.5%-of-capital-assets standard in zakat) would count as supererogatory.
In criminal law, it may be observed that state prohibitions on killing, stealing, and so on derive from the state's duty to protect one's own citizens. However, a nation state has no duty to protect the citizens of an adjacent nation from crime. To send a peacekeeping force into another country would be — in the view of the nation doing it — supererogatory.
Some schools of moral philosophy do not include supererogatory acts. In utilitarianism, an act can only be better because it would bring more good to a greater number, and in that case it becomes a duty, not a supererogatory act. The lack of a notion of supererogation in utilitarianism and related schools leads to the demandingness objection, arguing that these schools are too ethically demanding, requiring unreasonable acts.
See also
- Divine command theory
- Holy days of obligation
- Moral absolutism
- Mustahabb
- Orthodoxy
- Perfectionism (philosophy)
- Religiosity
- Saint
- Via media