Is plagiarism a mortal sin?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Epistemes
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
E

Epistemes

Guest
Oh, how the fates try to find new ways for me to land in mortal sin…

The other night I constructed a post on another message board site. The content of this post isn’t really post, but what made up the content of this post seems to be of some great issue to the other board members there. You see, I copied-and-pasted some lines from an online article (not many) unacknowledged which flowed into my main argument. Now I’m being cited for plagiarism, dishonesty, etc. I’m being told that I have a lack of “academic integrity,” and this message board is the furtherest thing from academic integrity in and of itself that such an accusation causes me be confused: should I laugh, or be worried?

The intent of me copying-and-pasting the lines of information without acknowledging where it came from was not so much to be deceptive, but to hopefully convey the information without people (who are overly critical of anything, anyway) dismissing it all as “internet fluff.”

I wouldn’t exactly call it plagiarism since, number one, this website is hardly academic, is just a website, and what I say means about $.02 of beans, regardless. So I can’t help but think people are making a big stink out of nothing - but my overly-conscientious side feels remorseful, and yet I feel ridiculous for feeling so!

The ridiculous thing is that in addition to the opening lines, which consisted of one or two, I also copied-and-pasted quotes without links - yet no one is complaining about the quotes; instead, they’re all barking about the one section which makes the most since.

I know most of this makes little sense to you without seeing the post itself and without knowing what it’s about - but, trust me, I’d rather not get into how I single-handedly proved the Qur’an broke certain commandments against having images of Allah (with a little help from some internet articles). 😉 😃 :o
 
Although I’m no expert, it certainly doesn’t seem like mortal sin. You weren’t intentionally trying to deceive anyone. A few lines is not a grievous amount of material to cite. In the future try to give sources when practical, but don’t let it get you overly scrupulous.

It sounds like your fellow posters on that board need to lighten up, or maybe you need to find a friendlier forum.
 
Epistemes said:
Oh, how the fates try to find new ways for me to land in mortal sin…

You see, I copied-and-pasted some lines from an online article (not many) unacknowledged which flowed into my main argument.
Click to expand...
If you are a professional academic or writer then it could be a serious sin, partly because you might be depriving another professional of the fruits of his work, but mainly because you risk damaging your own reputation. The convention in these circles is that you acknowledge.
However for a non-academic then I don’t see that it is even a problem. If people say things in public then they must expect to be quoted or paraphrased without acknowledgment.
 
Epistemes said:
Oh, how the fates try to find new ways for me to land in mortal sin…

The other night I constructed a post on another message board site. The content of this post isn’t really post, but what made up the content of this post seems to be of some great issue to the other board members there. You see, I copied-and-pasted some lines from an online article (not many) unacknowledged which flowed into my main argument. Now I’m being cited for plagiarism, dishonesty, etc. I’m being told that I have a lack of “academic integrity,” and this message board is the furtherest thing from academic integrity in and of itself that such an accusation causes me be confused: should I laugh, or be worried?

The intent of me copying-and-pasting the lines of information without acknowledging where it came from was not so much to be deceptive, but to hopefully convey the information without people (who are overly critical of anything, anyway) dismissing it all as “internet fluff.”

I wouldn’t exactly call it plagiarism since, number one, this website is hardly academic, is just a website, and what I say means about $.02 of beans, regardless. So I can’t help but think people are making a big stink out of nothing - but my overly-conscientious side feels remorseful, and yet I feel ridiculous for feeling so!

The ridiculous thing is that in addition to the opening lines, which consisted of one or two, I also copied-and-pasted quotes without links - yet no one is complaining about the quotes; instead, they’re all barking about the one section which makes the most since.

I know most of this makes little sense to you without seeing the post itself and without knowing what it’s about - but, trust me, I’d rather not get into how I single-handedly proved the Qur’an broke certain commandments against having images of Allah (with a little help from some internet articles). 😉 😃 :o
Click to expand...
It’s not a MORTAL sin, unless you think it is for some odd reason, but it is a sin of “stupidity” as you’ve undercut your “credibility”, unless you were utterly unaware that you shouldn’t have done that, in which case you are only NOW sinful for having come to that realization.

In other words, tell your detractors that you thank them for pointing out that you goofed, and publish your citations, and go to confession, and get over it,… and if anyone brings it up again, point at your penance, and if they persist, laugh and point at them until they shut up.

🙂

Mahalo ke Akua…!
E pili mau na pomaikai ia oe. Aloha nui.
 
In my view in the context of academia, especially if you were a Professor who built a false reputation on stealing the works of others, then it would be ‘grave matter’, but failing to correctly cite something properly when you should have would not be.
 
Depending on how intentional it is, it may be a mortal sin. If you intentionally claim the work of another as your own, then I would imagine that is a mortal sin. If you improperly cite sources, but don’t understand that by not giving proper credit to the source you use, you’re basically stealing. Students who get caught doing this (even if it is accidental) risk failing classes, and getting kicked out of their degree programs or universities. Professors and authors who do this seriously risk their jobs, and risk getting sued.
 
so now on internet forums and chat rooms we are expected to provide footnotes for everything borrowed or quoted? Lord give me strength. If you were using an article or partial quote as the central element of a post I would say that the source needs to be noted so that anyone else can see the context of what the subject matter is. Did they quote you back with the material without footnote? Sue em!.
 
Though it is traditional to refer to “grave sins” as “mortal sins” can we all try to stop using that terminology as it is simply confusing to too many people? That is: whether a sin is “mortal” or not is ALWAYS a subjective matter. What we tend to refer to as “mortal” sins are “grave” or “objectively mortal” sins. No one on this board knows whether a particular sin is mortal - often the person committing the sin may not be sure it is mortal.

That being said - certainly plagiarism can be a grave matter. If it is a grave matter it CAN be a mortal sin IF the other requirements for it to be mortal are present. I.e., (1) the person knows it is a grave matter and (2) chooses to commit the sin freely. (The mitigating factors and other qualifications being left up to a more intense discussion elsewhere.)

It’s become a buggaboo of mine after seeing/hearing too many people make comments that clearly indicate they don’t fully realize that mortal sins require more than simply being a grave matter. In another day perhaps that was better understood - or there were reasons to not make the distinction as clear. But, I really want to push to change the terminology commonly used.
 
I’m not even certain your using the cut and paste in a post, constitutes plagiarism. Possibly it could, if it was copyrighted material. I’m not an attorney, but I really don’t think you committed any tort here. Yah, it might not hurt to list a source for your material, but is it required in the context of a forum? I really don’t think so. Mortal sin requires three elements:
  1. Grevious matter
  2. Sufficient reflection
  3. Full consent of the will.
As previously noted, plagiarism could be a serious, mortal sin, if in “stealing material” not your own, the author was deprived of needed financial compensation, or something equally serious, by which he was deprived as a result of your action. None of that seems to be present in your situation.
 
On a related matter, palgiarism, in academic settings by students could be grave matter since it cheapens the value of diplomas and credentials received by all students of the institution (i.e, employers don’t want to hire graduates and everybody stands to lose). I am not a theologian; I’m just throwing out food for thought.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
 
Thou shalt not steal. (cf. Ex. 20:15) ← nice quote, eh?

I cannot find anything else in Scripture or the CCC under the topic “plagiarism.” I can tell you what it means. From the Latin for Plaga - ae, the word literally means kidnapper. Plaga means (hunting) net. I would reckon that kidnapping is pretty serious stuff.

According to m-w.com we got the word in 1601. I have to believe that since this word has aggressive overtones, somebody thought it a pretty serious offence at that time.

I agree with the other threaders that if your intent was to specifically deceive (my wife is correcting English homework from her Mexican students at a Catholic [Franciscan] school who copy/pasted wiki articles, etc.) or get out of doing serious work for a grade, I think it’s right up there with “Jesus give me a shot at confessing before you show up.”

If your intent was laziness, I don’t quite think it’s going to hurt your communion on Sunday. Is laziness punishible by death - probably not. Paul just says that you can’t eat.

Good luck on this one. I wish a Catholic.com expert would weigh in on this…???

Adios,

Tom
 
40.png
PhilipCal:
Not making any judgment as to sinfulness in the specific case, but once something is written down, it is copyrighted by the writer.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top