Trust in modernity
The case of Adam Smith
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2398422 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jack Barbalet (0000-0002-4212-7929, Australian Catholic University, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 60-77 |
| Publication date | 2024-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Journal of Social Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1368-4310 • E-ISSN: 1461-7137 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/13684310231185901 |
| OpenAlex | W4384067826 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 32 |
Recent examination of Adam Smith's mention of trust and his understanding of the role of trust in interpersonal relations add to his standing as a theorist of modernity. Smith's development of the notion of trust is confined to an account of trustworthiness, which is consistent with his theory of moral agency based on the principle of the impartial spectator. In addition, it is demonstrated that the predominance of trustworthiness in Smith's understanding relates to the significant presence of cottage industry in a globalised commercial economy, through which reliance on others is foregrounded. At the same time Smith was unable to grasp the disposition and agency of a trustor, a person giving trust, and their confidence in choosing to balance the risk of depending on strangers with the advantage such dependence might provide. In this way both Smith's understanding of trust and the nature of trust itself are explicated
Adam smith · Agency (philosophy · Balance (ability · Economics · Epistemology · Express trust · Interpersonal communication · Interpersonal relationship · Modernity · Neoclassical economics · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Trustworthiness · Law · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Psychology · Social Psychology · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory
History of Economic Analysis
Trustworthiness
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person
Studies In The Development Of Capitalism
Trust
Wealth and Virtue
What is trustworthiness
The Problem of Trust
The Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith, Vol. 5
Economic Action and Social Structure
Trustworthiness as a Moral Determinant of Economic Activity
The art of being in the eighteenth century
A Select Collection of Early English Tracts on Commerce
Proto-industrialization
Adam Smith and the Glasgow Merchants
"On the "Genesis of Modern Management
Trust upset
Adam Smith and Modernity
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Trust, Tolerance and the Challenge of Difference
The Nature of Trust
A characterization of trust, and its consequences
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |