ABSTRACT
Annette Baier has aimed for a moral theory appropriate to feminist concerns, and grounds that theory on the concept of trust. She writes that an adequate moral theory must include notions of appropriate trustworthiness, appropriate trusting ness, and appropriate encouragement to trust, along with judicious untrustworthiness, selective refusal to trust, and discriminating discouragement of trust. She seeks a moral theory that can serve as a guide in obligatory, often intimate, relationships where there is no equality of power, such as relationships with animals, the terminally ill, and children. Analysis of trust is necessary, not only because we must determine what forms of trust are beneficial, but also because trust relationships are prevalent in human society. She notes the oddity of the lack of philosophical discussion of trust among the great philosophers of history, given that all cooperative activity exhibits and requires some form of trust.
