Supererogatory
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Supererogatory, in ethics, indicates an act that is good but not morally required to be done. It refers to an act that is more than necessary, when another course of action, involving less, would still be a good action. It differs from a duty, which is an act that would be wrong not to do, and from acts that are morally equivalent.
Whether an act is supererogatory, or obligatory, can be debated. In many schools of thought, donating money to charity is supererogatory. In others, where some level of charitable donation is regarded as a duty -- such as tithe in Judaism and many Christian sects -- exceeding it is a supererogatory act.
Catholicism holds that the counsels of perfection are supererogatory acts, which specific Christians may engage in above their moral duties. Similarly, it teaches that to determine how to act, one must engage in reasonable efforts to be sure of what the right actions is; after the reasonable action, the person is in a state of invincible ignorance and guiltless of wrongdoing, but to undertake more than reasonable actions to overcome ignorance is supererogatory, and praiseworthy.
A Muslim must engage in a minimum number of daily prayers. To do nafl prayers (prayers in addition to the minimum number) is 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 ethics 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, becomes a duty, not a supererogatory act.
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