Illogical Arguments

Recently, I stayed at my friend's place for a few days. One morning, me and my friend were bored. We played Chess often but we got bored of playing against the same opposition. So my friend asked his father if he was willing to play chess. He said that he didn’t want to play chess. So we asked him if would instead play a game of cards. He said he would. So we set out playing cards in the morning, at 9 am. Now, at this point, for the benefit of those readers who are not familiar with Indian cultural thought (or at least the cultural thought of a significant fraction of it), it is useful to point out that playing cards is considered synonymous with gambling and not generally appreciated. Although this is a huge generalisation because there are many sections of people who would not attach the same kind of stigma to playing cards. At any rate, there is a certain vice-like nature attributed to playing cards, even if it is played in the confines of the home, with family members, and without any bets.

Continuing with my story,

On Plagiarism

When the term ‘Plagiarism’ is stripped of the meanings it has come to represent with recent applications of the word and when the dictionary meaning of the word is considered in isolation, it simply means ‘the act of using another person's words or ideas without giving credit to that person’ (as defined on Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary). According to this simple definition there are two criteria for the application of the term ‘plagiarism’ to any sort of work. First, there has to be an instance of a borrowed concept or idea. Second, there should be an absence of acknowledgement of the origins of this borrowed concept or idea. Only when these two criteria are met can one justifiably use the term plagiarism (in its verb form ‘plagiarised’) to describe those sections of work which fulfil these criteria.