Trust is an over-flexible concept that demands precise definition.

Evidence

Surprisingly many people have a quasi-Platonic vision of trust. They know what it is. Unfortunately, because they know it to be so many different things the concept is so plastic that we cannot even know what is at issue in many accounts that explain trust or use trust to explain some behavior. If our discussions of trust are to be understood, we must specify more narrowly how we mean to use the term. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 424

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes why the formal definition of trust matters — the concept is plastic enough that different accounts talk past each other.