How Can I Be Trusted?

A Virtue Theory of Trustworthiness

By (author) Nancy Nyquist Potter

Publication date:

23 November 2002

Length of book:

256 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

237x153mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780742511507

This work examines the concept of trust in the light of virtue theory, and takes our responsibility to be trustworthy as central. Rather than thinking of trust as risk-taking, Potter views it as equally a matter of responsibility-taking. How Can I Be Trusted? illustrates that relations of trust are never independent from considerations of power, and that the trustee has a moral obligation not to exploit the vulnerability of the trusting person. Asking ourselves what we can do to be trustworthy allows us to move beyond adversarial trust relationships and toward a more democratic, just, and peaceful society.
How Can I Be Trusted? makes a valuable contribution to virtue ethics, as well as to our understanding of trust in a variety of relationships. Potter's experiences as a crisis counselor and philosophy teacher provide her with illuminating case studies, which serve wonderfully well to display the difficult and shifting demands of trustworthiness.