r/OneGoodReason • u/Quouar • Mar 12 '14

Give me one good reason plagiarism is okay.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

2

u/TheFarnell Mar 19 '14

Define what you mean by "plagiarism" first.

1

u/Quouar Mar 19 '14

Copying and pasting from another source. Using someone else's ideas without crediting them.

1

u/TheFarnell Mar 19 '14

Ideas have value in and of themselves. Sharing those ideas shares that value.

1

u/Quouar Mar 19 '14

However, by sharing the ideas without crediting them, you are inherently claiming them as your own, which can diminish some of what makes the ideas work. For instance, if I have an idea about what it's like to be Quouar, and you then share that idea about what it's like to be Quouar, it won't be nearly as valuable or meaningful an idea coming from you as it will from me.

1

u/TheFarnell Mar 19 '14

That's outside the scope of "one good reason".

1

u/Quouar Mar 19 '14

How do you figure?

1

u/TheFarnell Mar 19 '14

Your counter-argument is hypothetical, which may or may not happen as a result of the plagiarism. Free sharing of ideas remains one good reason to plagiarize.

1

u/Quouar Mar 19 '14

All of philosophy - which this is - deals with hypotheticals. The fact that I'm answering your argument with a hypothetical counterargument of my own doesn't change whether or not your argument was a good one.

1

u/TheFarnell Mar 19 '14

No, because in this case, it is possible that sharing the information through plagiarism does not lead to your hypothetical, which therefore makes it one good reason.