Philosophical Perspectives on Trustworthiness and Open-mindedness as Professional Virtues for the Practice of Nursing: Implications for he Moral Education of Nurses

walking on the road in spite of the risks may turn out to be the safer option. It would be
safer to walk on the road when the pavement is being repaired and a clearly marked
walkway has been erected specifically to allow pedestrians safe passage.

However, our vulnerability is not necessarily lessened when we do take protective
measures although our perceptions of vulnerability may be changed significantly.
Generally speaking, actions that lead to reduced perceptions of vulnerability enable us
to proceed with our everyday lives. And this is the case whether or not our actions
actually do provide us with (some) protection or whether or not our actions fail to
reduce the risks. However, reducing perceptions of vulnerability is not always
compatible with human flourishing, as will be illustrated later in this chapter.
Nevertheless, under normal circumstances, it would be foolish not to take some
protective measures especially those commensurate with a reasonable assessment of the
risk versus benefit of taking rather than not taking an action. To walk in the road rather
than on the pavement would seem to be unnecessarily risky, although it would turn out
to be safer to have walked in the road if, by chance, a lorry had shed its load on the
pavement at that moment. It seems to be important for people to reduce their perception
of their own vulnerability whether or not their vulnerability has been reduced. This is
important for to live with a perception of a high level of personal vulnerability may
reduce a person's capacity to flourish. Under normal circumstances then it would be
reasonable to state that one of the motivations of human behaviour, at least in everyday
activities, is to seek out actions that reduce one’s vulnerability. If we are successful in
this then we make ourselves, or at least perceive ourselves to be, less vulnerable.

Recognising those things that we can reasonably protect ourselves from and taking
actions so to protect ourselves (and our important others) requires the use of judgement.
But in recognising these things we also by default recognise that there must be things
which we have limited ability to effect. While there remain judgements to be made
about some parts of these things there is much that we must take on trust. Ultimately we
must come to judge how far we can trust in the social and political institutions that
surround us.

Social and political trust

In some matters our predictions are predicated on a notion of social trust that we hope
others will respect. We anticipate that on the whole drivers will not deliberately steer

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