fulltext - DiVA Portal

ealistic perceptions are asked to take a more optimistic view of theirfellow men. Is trust just a social construction or a personal attitude orare there more material factors of importance? Even if the socialresult would benefit by a general increase of trust, such a changemight be a personal loss for the uncritical and a very significant gainfor unscrupulous hustlers. In my mind it is only justified to promate atrust that corresponds to the social situation, a trust that bringsadvantages not only to hustlers or preachers but to the people actuallyfollowing the advice. From this realistic level further improvementscan be made in a virtuous circle of improvements in social climateand increases in trust. But to promote trust in spite of an asocialsituation is to fool the naive man. The prime criterion to good advice,must be honesty, not optimism.One line of argument for unfounded trust is that many social projectsare impossible to realize in a situation of mutual suspicion. Anexample is arms-restriction agreements (e.g. discussed by Rarris1986 and Gauthier 1997). Some possible deals can be properlysurveyed so that violation can be punished and damage limited, but ifarms-restriction agreements were to be limited to prudence, theywould not be as far reaching as if the parties could trust each other. Ifeach party's decision is secret and private, they become independentand just prudence would result that both might choose defect.Gauthier is aware of the risks involved, but he still long for reachingfurther "In other words, each must find it advantageous to insure thattheir choice of strategies are interdependent, so that the pact willalways be prudent for each to keep. But it may not be possible forthem to insure this and to the extent that they cannot, prudence willprevent them from maximizing mutual advantage." (Gauthier 1997, p259)If your adversary is a gentleman you might expect him to follow agentleman' s agreement, but if your opponent is ready to kill you, it ishardly outrageously pessimistic to think that he might lie to you.There is something to be said for 'better safe than sorry'. The properway to maintain trust is to avoid burdening it too much. Two hostilenations or individuals will attribute same value to communication. Ifthis communication is not to dissolve inta tiring quarrels, samerespect and honesty have to be put inta the relationship. Suspicionsets some limits to the amount of trust present in the relationship, andif this limit is properly set no one is offered a 'golden opportunity' ofcheating that will give him an advantage that exceeds the loss ofIII : 15