Enlightenment moral doctrines are mere propaganda lacking philosophical justification.

Evidence

The issue is not that of culture as a value, which is what the critics of civilization, Huxley, Jaspers, Ortega y Gasset and others, have in mind. The point is rather that the Enlightenment must examine itself, if men are not to be wholly betrayed. The task to be accomplished is not the conservation of the past, but the redemption of the hopes of the past. Today, however, the past is preserved as the destruction of the past. — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 24 (#complicates, via linked claim)

As it happens, the literature on trust is richest in sociological accounts, such as Bernard Barber’s (1983) The Logic and Limits of Trust. Philosophers, economists, psychologists, and political theorists, especially those in the tradition of John Locke, have addressed trust and have given interesting insights; but there is surprisingly little in all of these disciplines. Discussions of trust are almost entirely missing from moral philosophy, where trust may be most often invoked in discussions of Kantian proscriptions on lying, as in Sissela Bok’s (1978) Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 47 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Enlightenment must critique itself rather than merely defend cultural values — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 24; Belief in virtue gives no reason to trust that belief; Trust is almost entirely absent from moral philosophy proper — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 47

Broader Connections

• Enlightenment must critique itself rather than merely defend cultural values #complicates (0.85) — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 24
• Trust is almost entirely absent from moral philosophy proper #corroborates (0.80) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 47
• Belief in virtue gives no reason to trust that belief #qualifies (0.75)