There are other paths to forgiveness. If you think Mr. West’s acts were out of character, or if he finds ways to affirm you, even without apologizing, you might not feel threatened. Ms. Swift said she believes in forgiveness for people “who have enriched your life and made it better.” But she doesn’t believe in forgiveness for everyone: “If something’s toxic and it’s only ever really been that, what are you going to do? Just move on.”

Some people think that moving on is forgiving. But Ms. Swift is right to insist that there’s a difference. To forgive, you must release your resentment for the right reasons. You must release your resentment because you see that you can repair your relationship.

What if you can’t? Ms. Swift advises that you don’t have to forgive and forget; instead, “you just become indifferent and then you move on.” This is sound advice. She is saying: Hold on to your resentment; just don’t let it hold on to you. Don’t let it consume you. Put it in perspective, and then … shake it off.

At least, that’s one way forward. There is another way, and again, Ms. Swift can light the path. In 2013, a radio host named David Mueller groped Ms. Swift as they posed for a photograph. She sued for battery, asking for a single dollar in damages, and she won.

What was the point? She hardly needed another dollar. But make no mistake, the verdict mattered.

Ms. Swift sued to make clear that her body was not public property, available to any man who wanted to touch it. In other words, she asked the court to reject the message Mr. Mueller’s groping sent. The verdict told Mr. Mueller — and every man listening — that no one had a right to her body but her. And because the court applied general principles of battery law, it sent a message about every woman’s backside: Hands off.

Litigation gets a bad rap. But courts give us a chance to call on our community to reject the messages that wrongdoing sends. A lawsuit can let us move forward, without forgiving or forgetting.

But doesn’t Christianity teach that people must forgive? Not exactly. My friend Len Niehoff, who’s a full-time lawyer and part-time pastor, recently gave a sermon on forgiveness, which invoked Luke 17:3. In it, Jesus says, “If your brother sins against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.”

That’s the teaching of Taylor Swift too. Whatever you make of her music (and for the record, I’m a fan), she’s an astute philosopher of forgiveness.

Scott Hershovitz is a professor of law and a professor of philosophy at the University of Michigan.

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