Trust is essential to human society and the good life. At the same time citizens of developed
countries spend more and more time in virtual environments. This collection asks how far
virtual environments especially those affiliated with «Web 2.0» challenge and foster trust?
The book's early chapters establish historical linguistic and philosophical foundations for
key concepts of trust embodiment virtuality and virtual worlds. Four philosophers then
analyze how trust - historically interwoven with embodied co-presence - may be enhanced through
online environments. Final contributions tackle the specific challenges of virtual child
pornography and democratic deliberation online. This is the first collection devoted
exclusively to the philosophical dimensions of trust and virtual worlds. It helps bring the
reader up to date on the relevant concepts and issues and on ways in which widely ranging
insights and approaches may nonetheless cohere into a reasonably comprehensive account of
trust.
