The Philosophy of Trust Essay

With these natural causes of quarrel, Hobbes concludes that the natural condition of humans is a state of perpetual war of all against all, where no morality exists, and everyone lives in constant fear (p.45). He believes that humans have three motivations for ending this state of war: the fear of death, the desire to have an adequate living and the hope to attain this through one’s labor (p.47). These beliefs become valid because of the use of his examples. One example suggests that people are barbaric to each other. With the absence of international law, strong countries prey on the weakness of weak countries. I believe that his views of moral behavior are very true. Like Hobbes said, people are out for their well-being. If I were to do a favor for someone, I may think I am helping someone out, which I am, but I am probably doing the favor because it is going to make me feel better. It is going to benefit my well being. Hobbes is a famous philosopher whose views were very controversial. But the fact that he lived in a time when the monarchy was the “divine right of kings” (p.42), makes his views valid today. With a different government and new laws, his views appear to be true.

What is trust? The dictionary meaning of trust is a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. The second meaning is, confidence placed in a person by making that person the nominal owner of property to be held or used for the benefit of one or more others. But what can we really define as trust? In this paper, I will discuss how trust is used every day in different situations, how we deal with trust in various relationships, and how we as individuals practice trust within ourselves.

In this book, trust is defined as “one’s willingness to be vulnerable to another based on the confidence that the other is benevolent, honest, open, reliable, and competent.” (page xiii) The author recognizes that trust is complex and dynamic. She views trust as the “lubricant” that greases the machinery of the organization. Trust is particularly important where parties are interdependent, or the “interests of one party cannot be achieve without reliance upon another.” In schools “teachers and principals are

Thomas Hobbes then begins to explain that what any one man has another may take at will. Some men take pleasure in the conquest of what belongs to another and will take more than they need, while others are content with the bare essentials. Hobbes states that, because it is in man's nature to increase his own power it should be “allowed.” Hobbes states that there are three causes for quarrels between men, the first being competition and the want for man to gain from another through violence. The second is diffidence, or a lack of confidence in one’s own ability of worth which in turn causes men to fight for safety, perhaps to distract another from his insecurities. The third is for the sake of glory, or to secure his reputation. Thomas Hobbes says that, because all men have a natural animalistic inclination to fight for what we want and believe we deserve, a “common power”, a government or hierarchy of some sort, is vital to maintaining a semblance of peace. Hobbes muses that, without security outside of us there will be no industry or commodities, no modern comforts, no society. Without someone to lord over us in some way our future will be one of “continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short…” (pg. 48). And, while we enjoy the

Steve Weinberg’s “Taking on the Trust” is a book that chronicles the lives of both Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller. Ida Tarbell was born in Pennsylvania to Franklin and Esther Tarbell. While her family was not necessarily poor they were not rich either. At times they had to struggle to make it through while at other times they had money in the bank. One of the interesting things about her family is how strongly religion played a role in their family. Even when they didn’t have much they still tried to help out those who are less fortunate than themselves. Ida Tarbell was quite a curious youth. When she was younger and living in an oil field she witnessed that there are objects that float and objects that didn’t.

For men, the common good is not the private and they can only be happy if they are better off in comparison to others. “Men are continually in competition for honor and dignity, which these creatures are not; and consequently amongst men there ariseth on that ground, envy and hatred, and finally war” (Hobbes, Leviathan, 17, 7). Due to these instinctive desires and behavioral patterns, he believes that the natural condition of man is troublesome and can only lead to a state of chaos and conflict. This state is undesirable and should be avoided. So while men continue to live without a common power to keep them in awe, they will be in a continuous state of war, which is every man against every man. Here, all men are each other’s enemies and the ideas of right and wrong along with just and unjust do

In Stephen M. R. Covey’s The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything, he gives some great tips on how to gain, keep, and rebuild the trust of others, whether they be coworkers, family members, customers, or complete strangers. He emphasizes the importance of trust in every relationship, purporting that relationships are built on and sustained by trust. And even the best relationships can be broken and destroyed by lack of trust. Without trust, actions are misinterpreted and motives are questioned. Covey contends that trust always affects two outcomes – speed and cost. When trust increases, speed increases and costs decrease. Conversely, when trust decreases, speed decreases and costs increase. The Speed

From a young age people are taught both trust and distrust. Children are instructed to respect authority figures. They are also warned to not get in a car with strangers, not take candy from strangers, and often to not even talk to strangers. While people are expected to be respectful, they are simultaneously trained to be suspicious and skeptical. This begs the question of when and where trust should be placed. In The Confidence Man, author Herman Melville uses the vehicle of a disorderly ship on which men are both distrusting and untrustworthy, to raise the question of whether or not people should trust one another. In Luck, Mark Twain addresses the same theme of trust through presenting the narrative of a naive man who has gained glory

Hobbes suggests three causes of the nature of man. First, competition; Second, Diffidence; third, glory. Human exercise violence first to gain their desire, and secondly to defend their gains, and lastly for one’s own reputation. On the ground that we are all in a state of war, Hobbes states, “In such conditions, there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain…no knowledge of the face of the earth, no account of time, no arts, no letters, NO SOCIETY, and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death…” (Leviathan, XIII). Therefore, the idea of justice or injustice cannot have a place in our society where there is no power.

Self-centered human nature drives men to egotism. Yet in a world of limited resources, as one man strives to satisfy his desires, he naturally diminishes other men’s opportunity to fulfill their own needs, thus creating Hobbes’ third premise: competition. In human nature, “From equality of ability ariseth equality of hope in the attaining of our ends. And therefore, if any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless the cannot both enjoy, they become enemies; and . . . endeavour to destroy or subdue one another” (Hobbes 75). Men compete with one another to gratify their desires and thus become enemies. Consequently, competition begets jealousy, envy, and hatred, which sparks war among people. Hobbes’ three premises of human nature, equality, egotism, and competition, set the stage for an all out war.

Hobbes continually claims that ¨nature hath made men so equal in the faculties of body and men¨ (Hobbes) leading to it to be justifiable to deem their search for competition unending, exhibiting persistent and selfish behavior among everyone. As a result of this, in his further explanation of man, Hobbes concludes that ¨so that in the nature of man, we find three principle cases of quarrel. First, competition; secondly, diffidence; thirdly, glory¨ (Hobbes). He believes the three motives for war and unrest is the desire for competition, modesty, and the desire to win in hopes of fame. The wish to experience and achieve these concepts through war displays how humans are infamously selfish in how they act, according to this piece of literature. Through Hobbes’ use of the extreme language portrayed through the words ¨diffidence¨ and ¨quarrel¨, the underlying importance of these three cases are highlighted, as well as the persistence of humans, since their motives are of a copious amount. In addition to the diction within ¨Leviathan¨, the emotional and logical approaches in Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress¨ depict a sense of selfishness and persistence defining human

In Book I of chapter XIII, Of the Natural Condition of Mankind, as concerning their Felicity, and Misery, Hobbes talks about the three principal causes of quarrel, competition, diffidence, and glory. The first, competition, is for gain. Hobbes describes it as,” The first use violence, to make themselves masters of other men 's persons, wives, children, and cattle…” (Hobbes Chapter 13). In other words, competition causes men to use violence to steal from one another, which leads to war. Diffidence is described as safety, and the final cause of fighting is glory, which is reputation. Hobbes says in the text, “the third, for trifles, as a word, a smile, a different opinion, and any other sign of undervalue, either direct in their persons or by reflection in their kindred, their friends, their nation, their profession, or their name” (Hobbes Chapter 13).

There is a ceaseless struggle for control that is derived from human self-interest. Such desire becomes desperate ambition that drives the individual to heinous actions. Violence ensues and as the carnage occurs, only one thing can truly satisfy the hunger for dominance: a covenant made to unify varying interests under a common power. In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury writes profoundly on the arrangement of legitimate government and the structure of society by calling to attention the constant vying for “power after power that ceaseth only in death” (Hobbes, 56). Through his depiction of human interactions, Hobbes claims that there is a perpetual longing for ease and protection, knowledge, and fame (Hobbes, 56-57). When desires are conflicting, Hobbes claims that there is fierce competition that results in irreconcilable relationships. As a consequence of their extreme animosity, the individuals engage in total warfare, and they share only the interest of “destroying or subduing one another” until their demands are satisfied (Hobbes, 58). The horrendous conflict can only be resolved by what Hobbes refers to as a “mutual covenant” in which individuals comply and “confer all their power and strength upon one man” (Hobbes, 62-63). The concept of creating a covenant that is willing to yield to a single sovereignty is further examined by the scholar Mark Peacock in his article “Obligation and Advantage in Hobbes’ Leviathan.” Peacock calls into question whether or not an

The first year of an infant’s life can be a time of great joy and learning, developmental growth physically, mentally and emotionally while providing an opportunity for parents to ensure their infant’s needs are being met. In 1965 Erik Erikson developed eight psychosocial growth stages beginning with Stage 1, ‘trust vs. mistrust’, which occurs from birth and throughout the first year of an infant’s life (Candlin 2008, p.76).

According to Dettmer, Knackendoffel, & Thurston (2009), when we have trust, others are more likely to: