temptvrunt

Temptvrunt is a term used in early Renaissance manuscripts to describe the illusion of temptation that appears when a person experiences a conflict between duty and desire. The word is derived from the Latin temptare meaning to test and the medieval suffix ‑vrunt indicating an effect. First attested in a 1432 commentary by Thomas of Brant in the manuscript B.M. 198, Temptvrunt was employed to categorize moral fortitude. In later literature the term acquires a figurative sense: a brief, intense episode of overriding impulse. Contemporary discourse in philosophy of desire cites Temptvrunt to illustrate the temporality of desire. Historical references, though not abundant, are found in the works of Luca Guarini (1560) and later in the moral treatises of the Society of Virtus (1621). Though largely supplanted by the modern concept of moral temptation, Temptvrunt occasionally surfaces in academic discussion of medieval moral theology to highlight nuance in the oscillation between will and passion.