Introduction

Abstract

This introductory chapter gives a systematic overview of three key debates about trust in general and then of six issues concerning epistemic trust. It finishes by summarizing the contributions to this volume. The survey of trust in general discusses (1) the kinds of expectations that trust relationships involve (predictive or normative), (2) the characteristic psychology of such relationships, and (3) what makes trust rational. The discussion of epistemic trust focuses on (1) the role of trust in testimony, (2) the epistemic goods that we trust for (including knowledge and epistemic recognition), (3) the significance of trust for epistemic goods over and above mere reliance, (4) what makes epistemic trust rational, and (5) epistemic self-trust—including whether this is a matter of mere reliance on one’s cognitive faculties or of trust in oneself as a person.