Background trust
Background trust is generally taken to be important for without it, it would be difficult
to sustain any sense of well being or security in everyday life. Bernard Williams (2002)
makes the observation that there remains a background of trust in all but the most
extreme situations. This background of trust is what allows us to make sense of our
social relationships. It makes possible the idea that, for the most part, as Baier (1986)
suggests, others do not intend us harm nor intend to interfere unnecessarily with us as
we live out our lives. Without this general sense Ofbackground trust it is difficult to
imagine how human flourishing could occur. At those times and in those places where
people have reason to experience a high level Ofbackground distrust there is likely to be
an air of disquiet, suspicion, and anxiety. Such things are surely obstacles to human
flourishing. However, as with other forms of trust, background trust can be
compromised and once lost, may be difficult to re-establish. This fragility of trust is
well documented. In our own time, events since September 11th have given us reason to
be wary of being complacent about the components of our general background trust. Of
course, the Stoics would want to warn us against any sort of complacency in an idea of
general background trust precisely because it increases our vulnerability. And while we
do well to heed this warning, it remains the case that a background of trust appears to be
necessary for human flourishing. Much might be said about background trust but for the
purposes of the present discussion it is sufficient to recognise that its existence enables
other forms of trust to flourish.
For present purposes it is necessary to come to an understanding of the nature of some
of these others forms of trust because it is from a knowledge of trust that we can begin
to understand what it is to be trustworthy. And once we have identified the features of
trustworthiness we can set about, with some confidence, the further task of exploring
ways in which to foster learning environments conducive to the development of the
professional virtue of trustworthiness in nurses. This of course presupposes that trust
and trustworthiness are important for nursing, and in due course I will argue that being
trustworthy contributes to the human flourishing of those in receipt of nursing care; that
is, contributes towards the flourishing of τnore-than-ordinarily vulnerable persons.
The nature of trust
The literature on trust is dominated by accounts located primarily in either the discipline
of psychology or the discipline of sociology, both of which lay claim to the
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