EFFORT, UTILITY, AND GRATUITOUSNESS: MELCHIORRE GIOIA’S NOTION OF MERIT WITHIN THE HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY DEBATE

The notion of merit remains a contested terrain in contemporary moral, political, and economic discourse, yet its historical articulations have not always been adequately integrated into the history of economic and philosophical thought. This paper analyses Del merito e delle ricompense (On merit and rewards) ([1818–19] 2022) by the Italian thinker Melchiorre Gioia, one of the most extensive modern treatments of merit. It argues that Gioia develops a historically original and conceptually substantial account of merit that cannot be reduced either to Benthamite utilitarianism or to later meritocratic rhetoric. Reworking utilitarian categories through themes characteristic of the Italian civil economy tradition, Gioia understands merit as a relational phenomenon structured by effort (overcome difficulty), utility (produced utility ), intention (disinterested purpose), and social convenience. The most distinctive feature of this framework lies in the role assigned to gratuitousness within the very definition of merit , thereby bringing into sharper focus the questions and tensions it inevitably entails. It further shows that Gioia’s account makes merit difficult to separate from virtue and helps explain why the question of merit cannot easily be set aside. By reconstructing both the coherence and the limits of Gioia’s position, the article highlights how his work illuminates enduring problems at the intersection of political economy, moral philosophy, and social recognition.