Trust must be freely given and cannot be demanded without suspicion

Evidence

Chapter 8p. 68: Throughout the text Luhmann uses the word ‘schenken’ – to give something as a present. There is no direct equivalent in English to translate this. One can talk of ‘gifting’, as a verb, meaning ‘to endow with gifts’ or ‘make a present of’. However, Luhmann’s use of this word in this context is a deliberate attempt to convey the liberal dimension of giving trust, which cannot be demanded (just as one cannot really demand presents if they are to remain presents, one cannot demand trust without raising suspicions). — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 85

Categorization

• DEFINE: Captures Luhmann’s deliberate word-choice ‘schenken’ to frame trust as a gift-like, nondemandable liberal act — key to the trust-as-reduction mechanism.
• ADDENDUM: The gift-like, nondemandable framing of trust parallels the ‘On Sacrifice’ article’s exploration of gifts that cannot be demanded without corrupting their meaning.
• XREF: connects to: Freedom requires civic trust, not solitary defensive walls — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 1192