Trust, Distrust, and History

Abstract

The first part of this chapter deals with the theory of trust, explaining why it is more of an emotion than a rational calculation, evaluating to what extent it may be considered a moral, civic, or social virtue, and assessing the loss of freedom, the risks, and the vulnerability it entails. It also distinguishes between personal and institutional trust while at the same time illustrating the rhetorical connections between them. The second part of the chapter traces the gradual emergence of institutional distrust in England prior to 1660. There were early indications of this distrust in the sixteenth century, and they became explicit during the reign of Charles I (1625–49). The centerpiece of this section is a narrative of the growth of political distrust in the years leading up to and including the revolution of the 1640s. That section also deals briefly with the growth of distrust in legal, commercial, and ecclesiastical institutions, but mainly as those concerns related to the expression of political distrust.