The Principle Disappointability as “Trust Gradientâ€

Abstract

Starting from Karl Löwith’s Mitanthropologie, my paper aims to put forward a principle disappointability conceived as a “trust gradient†for the interhuman dimension.

Löwith’s Mitanthropologie develops a taxonomy of the different binary bonds, at the top of which emerges the “absolute relationship between an I self and a you selfâ€. The peculiarity of this bond is based on trust and responsibility. In order to prove the responsible and trust-based intentionality of the two relata, I propose the principle disappointability, inspired by Popper’s principle of falsification. The authenticity of a relationship depends on the fact that each relatum responds entirely for itself within the space of Miteinandersein. In other words, I can show my trust (in my co-relatum) only if I en-trust (to it). Such a total entrusting can be attested only by the fact that I am “falsifiableâ€, namely “disappointableâ€. The principle disappointability emerges therefore as a natural “trust gradientâ€.