Plagarizing Case

Plagiarism is commonly being done all throughout the school systems and elsewhere. This is defined as copying one’s own work and stating that it is your own without proper citation. Some people do not realize that they are plagiarizing, and do not mean to do it on purpose but others do it purposefully. All that needs to be done if you want to ‘steal’ someone else’s words is to cite where the quote came from. Over the past few decades, a sizable industry has arisen to serve the demand for ready-made and even customized compositions and term papers. Many students are now buying these papers for a small fee and submitting them for their classes.

This is considered plagiarizing because it is directly using someone else’s words that were not created by your own logical thoughts. Ruggiero states, “In the academic world, plagiarism is considered an ethical violation and is punished by a failing grade for a paper or a course or even by dismissal from the institution. Outside the academy, it is a crime that can be prosecuted if the person to whom the ideas and words belong wishes to bring charges” (Ruggiero, p. 19). Plagiarizing can become a serious deal in the academic world as well as outside of it. It is considered an ethical violation and should not be done under any circumstances.

When people buy term papers from the internet and use them as their own paper for a class, it is called plagiarizing. The two Primary Schools of Ethics this situation can be solved with are the ends-based thinking and the rules-based thinking. In the reading, “How Good People Make Tough Choices”, Kidder states that “The ends-based thinking known to philosophers as utilitarianism, this principle is best known by the maxim Do whatever produces the greatest good for the greatest number” (Kidder, p. 23). This thinking is being able to predict the consequences of different actions. The ends-based thinking would be a good choice of ethics to use for this situation. If we know the consequences that plagiarizing could affect us in the academic world, we would probably think again about buying a term paper from the internet. Buying a term paper from the internet would cause us to possibly get a zero on the paper if the professor found out about it. Using the ends-based thinking would help us to think of the final consequences of this issue. Another primary school of ethics we could use to help us in this situation would be the rule-based thinking.

The German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, stated “‘Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.’ Simply put, that means, ‘follow only the principle that you want everyone else to follow’ and act in such a way that your actions could become a universal standard that other ought to obey” (Kidder, p. 24). By using the rule-based thinking, we can come to the conclusion that knowing not to plagiarize is a general principle that should always be followed. Although, the teacher may or may not catch you that it was plagiarized and you may not know the consequences to be followed, but it is still better to stick with the principle that it is illegal and should not be done. Because we know that plagiarizing is wrong, we know that we should not buy the paper from the internet, in which this is using the rule-based thinking to come to this conclusion.

The Three Primary Schools of Ethics, ends-based, rules-based, and care-based thinking, can all be used and can be considered worthy in real life dilemmas. All of these are considered to help us come to final conclusions of using morally good ethics in certain situations. Each of them helps us come to different conclusions based on what we decide we want to do in the end based on a different style and method. Aristotle was a very bright and intelligent man. The reading notes that, “Aristotle authored as many as four hundred works on a variety of subjects ranging from theoretical and practical science to politics, rhetoric, logic, and ethics. In his view, moral principles exist in the daily activities of human life and can be discovered by examining those activities.

Happiness is to be attained by developing one’s potential for a life of reason” (Ruggiero, p. 147). I think he would approve of it because he wants happiness, and by using the ends and rules-based thinking, , it would give us happiness if we choose the right decision, which would be to not buy the term paper. Aristotle’s outlook is that he believes the activities we do in our life each day will form our morals and define our ethical decisions that are to be made. Overall, the Primary Schools of Ethics and Aristotle’s theory will both help us in coming to the ethical decision at the end of the day.

Buying a paper from the internet is considered plagiarism and could cause serious outcomes if one were to get caught. Plagiarism is not ethical in any
sort of way. Whether you copy from someone’s paper, buy a term paper, and/or use direct quotes from someone, it is still considered plagiarizing. In order to not make this mistake, make sure that you always cite the source it came from and you will always be safe. By using the ends-based and rules-based thinking, it can help come to the conclusion that you should not buy the term paper from the internet. It helps us think about the consequences that could be and helps us to understand what we ought to do and what the right thing to do is in this situation. Plagiarizing is considered an ethical violation and should never be done under any circumstances.