Carolina Bruna Castro
The paper distinguishes between the concepts of "exemplarity" [Exemplarisch] and that of "example" [Beispiel] in order to highlight the problematic implications of the common view according to which the two terms are conceptually similar. Such common place implies that "exemplarity" is taken merely as a suitable image for being reproduced, thus acquiring a notorious moral emphasis. Against this view, the author argues that the "exemplarity" refers to the notion of autonomy and, more particularly, to a special conception of the intentionality of action, characterised as being unrepeatable or unpredictable. This approach about the "exemplarity" allows going beyond the common interpretation of Kant's notion of "cunning" as a way of speaking of virtue, since this interpretation merely captures the mechanicistic meaning of a more complex term.