Introduction

Trust – and its lack – is a hot issue. This is especially true of public discussion of one of the defining features of contemporary life – namely, computers and the varied technologies that are built on them. We want trust but doubt whether it is well-grounded. Nor is it clear how it could be so grounded. Where is rational trust to be found? Call this the search for trust. Meanwhile, computers become a more pervasive part of our lives. Uncertainty and risk increase. The search is urgent.

There is an obvious way to resolve the search for trust. To build trust in a technological world, we need to know what trust is. Philosophers answer questions of the form “what is f?” They do so paradigmatically through conceptual analysis. Therefore, philosophers should analyze trust, thereby answering the question “what is trust?” Such an analysis will explain when trust is grounded and when it is not. It will then be possible to identify how trust can be grounded in the specific context of the new modes of living that computing technologies have created. The response concludes: let's get started.