Heresy and Honor. A Historical Perspective on Trust in Science

This chapter examines the discourse on trust from a historical and philosophical perspective. When and under what conditions did it arise? What are the salient features that drive this discourse? The argument revolves around the observation that trust is an ambivalent concept that can mean both honor for and heresy against science. It will be argued that the discourse on trust in science is relatively recent but has (some) historical roots. Four factors are identified that act on different time scales and that together contribute to the recent discourse on trust.