Trust, the Participant Stance, and Firms

Kim and Routledge (2022) offer a normative account of trust in firms, drawing on a philosophical approach to trust, “the participant stance.” This Commentary raises a challenge to Kim and Routledge. For a participant stance view of trust to be applicable to firms, we argue that firms must be seen as fitting targets and sources of reactive attitudes in morally relevant trust relationships. It is far from clear that firms are a fitting target within Kim and Routledge’s account.