This essay is a contribution to the analysis of the concept of trust and of the practical
relation based on it. First, we consider the centrality of trust in social life, as well as its
special status: if trusting deserves to be fostered institutionally, it cannot be imposed by
law nor encouraged from the viewpoint of personal utility, since it rests on individuals'
freedom. Second, we analyse the structure of trusting as a special case of relying on
someone: great attention is given to explaining what the trusting individual must
attribute to the person in whom he puts his trust, concerning both his practical
disposition and motivations. Lastly, we examine the way in which trust engenders trust,
thus creating a virtuous circle. If the circle of trust seems to be without foundations, the
relation with the mother, however, opens up, for us, its very possibility, while society
structures the space of its circulation; yet even the transcendence of society may need
another foundation.
