Plagiarism And The Ugly Truth About Education

 By Dr. R. Scott Clark - Posted at The Heidelblog:

Published December 27, 2023

The definition of plagiarism is well established, but for the sake of completeness, the Oxford English Dictionary says, “The action or practice of taking someone else’s work, idea, etc., and passing it off as one’s own; literary theft.”1 It has been used this way, in English, since at least 1621. It is derived from the Latin noun, plagiarius, one sense of which is “plunderer.” This would be an apt definition of plagiarism: plundering the work of another and presenting it as one’s own. In essence it is theft, a violation of the eighth commandment, “You shall not steal” (Ex 20:15; Deut 5:19; Lev 19:11; Matt 19:18; Rom 13:9). We do not even need special revelation to teach us that theft is wrong. The moral law is inscribed on the conscience of every human being. Any child knows what theft is. Put two children in a room with toys, and before long one is likely to emerge and complain, “Mom, she took my toy!” No one had to teach that child that theft is wrong. He knew intuitively the difference between mine and yours. The toy was his and she wanted it. She took what did not belong to her.

Though scholars might wish to deconstruct theft, as Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) attempted to do, “mine” and “yours” are so basic they cannot be deconstructed. They are not a social construct. Rousseau himself was a sexual profligate who burdened the citizens of Geneva with the care of his several children, thus stealing from the citizens of Geneva.2 He only sought to deconstruct theft in order to justify his own sins, just as Michel Foucault (1926–1984) sought to deconstruct sex in order to justify his homosexual pederasty.3

Until the very recent postmodern insanity that has beset the West, there was no debate about whether plagiarism was acceptable. My own school has a detailed policy, quoting Westminster Larger Catechism 99, explaining what plagiarism is, why it is wrong, and why it will not be tolerated.

Continue here.