Plagiarism Definition

The definition of plagiarism as dictated in the Rutgers Academic Integrity Policy is “the use of another person’s words, ideas, or results without giving that person appropriate credit” (Academic Integrity Policy, 2A). This directly conflicts with Lethem’s interpretation of the idea of plagiarism, wherein he believes that plagiarism is inherent for all people; we constantly use each other’s words and ideas because it is impossible for us to learn anything without their influence. In the section “Give All” in Lethem’s essay, he states that “The kernel, the soul—let us go further and say the substance, the bulk, the actual and valuable material of all human utterances—is plagiarism. For substantially all ideas are secondhand, consciously and unconsciously drawn from a million outside sources, and daily used by the garnerer with a pride and satisfaction born of the superstition that he originated them” (Lethem 224-225).

With this quote, Lethem points out that we will “plagiarize,” that is, take the words and ideas of others, without even realizing it. Even if we do not intend to do so, it is impossible for us to form our own ideas completely untouched by those of people before us. We learn from the words of others, take their ideas, and build from there—reshaping and adding onto them until we create something new. Even if we believe we have come up with something on our own, the fact stands that we only got as far as we did by standing on our predecessor’s shoulders. Even things like basic math, science, language, and art—humans learn from example, consciously and unconsciously soaking in information that we recycle into our own thoughts. As such, Lethem’s interpretation of plagiarism renders that of the Rutgers Academic Integrity Policy obsolete, for it is near-impossible for us to credit each and every thought we have to the people who influenced them.