Final Exam Essay: Truth

Do You Really Trust Me?

There are three ways to take the statement “I trust you,” and in statements such as this one, in which relationships between people and emotions are involved, the person being told they are trusted would probably use all three methods before figuring out whether or not to believe that the other person really does trust them.  Like the example in the text of a person asking his girlfriend whether or not she loves him, the same goes for someone being told that they are trusted.  The truth of the statement can be found by any one—or a combination of—these three theories, depending on the situation.

If someone told me they trusted me, I would, at first, believe them unconditionally.  Because they say they have put their trust in me, that would make me happy, and would work well toward building my relationship—whatever it is—with that person.  It would be a pragmatic matter, for if the other person does not trust me, I am not happy and need to find out why they are in this particular relationship with me if they do not trust me.

After a while, I may notice that they do not act as though they really do trust me.  Perhaps the other person hides information from me, which I find out from other sources later, or stops talking when I enter the room.  Also, that person may dissemble when I offer to run an important errand for them, instead electing to do it themselves.  This behavior would show that the person does not actually trust me—it is not coherent, when combined with their statement of trust—and I would then need to re-think my relationship with that person and whether or not I have done anything in their presence to show that I am untrustworthy.

If I call that person out about their untrusting behavior, he or she might reluctantly tell me that they were planning a surprise for me, which will have been ruined by my doubt of their trust.  This would correspond to their statement “I trust you,” but would show that I do not trust them in return.  However, if they do not mention a surprise, I would ask why they are acting like they do not trust me if they really do, and what they really feel in regard to my trustworthiness.  This would get the other person to tell what is in their perception of the real world, and they would be able to tell me either definitively that they do trust me, or that they have some reservations about trusting me, or even that they just want to trust me but do not know yet if they can.  Their final statement, whatever it is, would correspond to the fact of the degree of their trust.

Finding the truth of the statement, “I trust you” should use any or all of the three theories of truth, on a case-by-case basis.  For instance, if I am content with the statement itself, and see no reason not to be in the behavior of the person who says they trust me, then the pragmatic theory will work just fine.  If I notice inconsistencies in their behavior with regards to their assertion of trust, the coherence theory would be preferred.  Finally, if their explanation of actions that seem not to correspond with their statement of trust actually does show that they trust me—they are just acting untrusting for a reason which will eventually benefit me—then the correspondence theory is the best way to find the truth or falsehood of their trust.