2026-09-23T11:30:43Zhttps://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/oai/request

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/3283892023-12-22T13:36:27Zcom_1810_273com_1810_256061col_1810_221775

Trusting 10.17863/CAM.75838 Domenicucci, Jacopo Holton, Richard This work starts from what may seem like a narrow and technical question in the mental metaphysics of trust. I ask about the portion of reality that our mental state of trust takes as its object, as its world-side referent — just like others have asked this about belief, desire, or knowledge. The trust literature has an implicit answer that I spell out: trust takes the future actions of our partners as its object. I contest the cavalier way in which this assumption about the mental metaphysics of trust is regarded as obvious. There are actually other ways to answer the object question — I introduce them and arrange them in a taxonomy. Among these alternatives, there is one that I find more promising than the traditional assumption. It is the Person-first approach, according to which trust primarily takes persons as its object. This approach to the conceptual modelling of trust is guided by a specific conjecture, the Settling Conjecture, according to which trust is the state that settles our interactions with persons. I illustrate the merits of this conjecture in its own terms. I also arbitrate between the standard and the Person-first approach by comparing them on a specific point — the role of expectations in trust. While the standard approach gives expectations the centre stage, the Person-first approach only treats them as a derivative manifestation of trust. I argue that this is more accurate in the light of what we otherwise know about trust. I also suggest that the Person-first approach opens up a promising research agenda for the study of trust in philosophy. I conclude wrapping up the results and spelling out some take-away messages about humans’ social interdependencies and humans’ social nature. University of Cambridge 2021-07-21 Thesis Doctoral Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) eng https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/328389 embargo 2026-11-03 https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/36c65d86-67e6-4651-941b-5b7907e25c6a/download 353adac0d1ebdfd65ab16480263c3c87 https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/099ca167-99b8-4d4f-83a0-1df88ecaa54e/download 1ed20f23ee18bc046c38cf5f9bffc74a https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/ trust philosophy of mind philosophy of action cooperation