Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A free society depends on more than rules. It depends on how people respond to conflict, harm, and responsibility, and on the informal capacities that sustain trust and cooperation. In this episode of Working Definition, philosopher and Mercatus Philosophy Senior Research Fellow Rebecca Lowe is joined by Mercatus VP Ben Brophy to examine what forgiveness requires.
Brophy defines forgiveness as releasing someone from a debt created by wrongdoing, raising deeper questions about responsibility, reconciliation, and how people repair relationships. These ideas highlight how responses to wrongdoing shape trust, cooperation, and social order in a free society.
Full episode: endsdontjustifythemeans.com/p/working-definition-episode-9-forgiveness
Follow Rebecca: @RMLLowe
Subscribe to her Substack The Ends Don’t Justify the Means: endsdontjustifythemeans.com
A free society depends on more than rules. It depends on how people respond to conflict, harm, and responsibility, and on the informal capacities that sustain trust and cooperation. In this episode of Working Definition, philosopher and Mercatus Philosophy Senior Research Fellow Rebecca Lowe is joined by Mercatus VP Ben Brophy to examine what forgiveness requires.
Brophy defines forgiveness as releasing someone from a debt created by wrongdoing, raising deeper questions about responsibility, reconciliation, and how people repair relationships. These ideas highlight how responses to wrongdoing shape trust, cooperation, and social order in a free society.
Full episode: endsdontjustifythemeans.com/p/working-definition-episode-9-forgiveness
Follow Rebecca: @RMLLowe
Subscribe to her Substack The Ends Don’t Justify the Means: endsdontjustifythemeans.com
