Trust: Some Methodological Reflections

W e all know what trust is. We consider trust to play a part in our close relationships, between our friends and loved ODes and us. Trust is a ubiquitous element of our everyday life; it is referred to in advertise ments, in politics, and in economical contexts. We trust (or do not trust) in God, in the harmlessness of beef, or in the new market (see fig. I). Despite this seem ing self-evidence, however, trust sparks intense scholarly interest. Its nature and function have been the subject of theoretical and practical analysis in sociology, theology, and philosophy since the beginning of the twentieth century. Interest grew even livelier in the second half of the last century. Challcnges such as recent experiences with totalitarian regimes, with intellectual movements like existentialism' and an increasing interest in psychology and socioiogy,2 pro voked debates. The massive scholarly literature produced on trust since the 1970s and 1980s until the present is as manifold and diverse as are the different interests of moral philosophers, psychotherapists and economic strategists.)