What is "morose delectation"?

[HomeschoolDad]

This is a direct translation from the Latin delectatio morosa, and apparently it comes from the thought of St Thomas Aquinas, but I’ve never been able to get a firm handle on just what exactly it is, or what examples of it would be.

The best I have ever been able to figure out, it is “getting a kick out of”, or “getting a charge out of”, the idea of either committing a sin oneself, or contemplating someone else doing so. For instance, “it would be so much fun to rob a bank”, or “check out those two guys fistfighting”, as though it’s something fun to think about or to witness, rather than being horrified at the idea of sin being committed. I am also thinking that, in the sexual realm, it could consist of “getting your jollies” out of talking about, or reading about, others’ illicit sexual exploits.

Am I on the right track, or is it something else?

I have also observed certain people — and this is really strange — get a kind of psychological frisson out of the idea of being able to commit a sin, as though they are saying “I could choose good, but on the other hand, I could also choose evil, and it is so thrilling to think about that!”. Pretty twisted, but I have known someone like that. Totally alien to my way of thinking.

 

[Vico]

…
Am I on the right track, or is it something else?
…

Latin Dictionary

Delectatio morosa,
In Catholic theology, a pleasure taken in sinful thought or imagination, such as brooding on sexual images. It is distinct from actual sexual desire, and involves voluntary and complacent erotic fantasizing, without any attempt to suppress such thoughts.

https://glosbe.com/la/en/delectatio morosa

http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2074.htm#article6

 

[NeedImprovement]

Not my area of expertise, but Fr. John Hardon S.J.'s Modern Catholic Dictionary confirms @Vico 's post , to the letter :

MOROSE PLEASURE. Deliberate complacency in a sinful object, presented by the imagination but unaccompanied by a desire for the object. Also called morose delectation ( morosa delectatio ).

Kind of a new one to me too, so , not really at a stage yet where I might attempt to provide any practical examples myself. However, it is true that sometimes people can conflate and/or substitute apathy or indifference with complacency so it would probably be helpful for us to make the distinction between indifference, apathy and complacency. Indifference and apathy correlate with an “I don’t care,” type of attitude. Whereas complacency - is said to be a type of contented self-satisfaction (can be accompanied by a sense of self-sufficiency too). Complacency’s definition, in this sense, will surely converge with the definition of lukewarm before long.

I’ve always found the word “lukewarm” to be rather an unsettling one where it applies to self-examination ; and this predominantly because of what is written in Revelation 3:15-16

,

 

[Vico]

…

No change is necessary is the attitude of complacency. It amounts to not avoiding temptation.

 

[NeedImprovement]

Thanks Vico, I think another

,

. . . “hope I don’t end up there either” , is in order.