ABSTRACT
Catholic social teachings take issue with the premises of Sigmund Freud and parallel theories about trust. The excerpt from St. Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica eloquently frames the traditional Catholic way of thinking about trust. Evident in Aquinas's reasoning are all the basic elements of Catholic social teaching as it relates to trust. Human beings are not so much separate individuals but relational beings, always part of something beyond the self. Trust in others, and in that relational nature of our existence, is essential for how we should act as human beings. The tenets of Catholic social thought are highly relevant to an understanding of what may be ailing contemporary American society. There are two important types of trust, each with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. The first, which could be called "thin," is more external to human psychology and transactional. The second type of trust, which call "thick," is ontological and more internal to human psychology.
