References to moral exemplars run deep into the history of philosophy, as we find them
featured in rather disparate context and approaches which span from virtue ethics to moral
perfectionism, from existentialism to moral particularism. In the varied and growing
contemporary literature on moral exemplarism, we find a number of options that can be
brought down to the two rather broad yet distinctive categories of theoretical and antitheoretical
approaches. In the paper, I showcase and contrast these two varieties by taking
the views of Zagzebski and Rorty as representative of, respectively, the reference to
exemplars as most perfect beings to aspire to and get guidance from, and the use of them as
next yet foreign beings to experiment with and get provocation from. Finally, I will draw
some consequences for a conception of moral education hinged on unsettlement and
transformation rather than on imitation and reproduction.
