ERIC Number: EJ747561
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Jul
Pages: 15
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0142-5692
EISSN: N/A
More Heat than Light: Plagiarism in Its Appearing
Clegg, Sue; Flint, Abbi
British Journal of Sociology of Education, v27 n3 p373-387 Jul 2006
This paper argues that the recent debate about plagiarism has taken on aspects of a moral panic, which reflects underlying anxieties about the state of higher education in the United Kingdom. In contrast to the moral absolutism of some commentators, we argue for the significance of posing the phenomenological question of "what is plagiarism in its appearing?" We present a detailed idiographic analysis of two cases taken from a wider study of staff perceptions of plagiarism looking at the multiple meanings of plagiarism in the life-world of individual staff. Our approach does not entail judgemental relativism; rather, it involves a proper recognition of the limitations of rule-bound approaches to complex ethical matters. We argue for a virtues-based approach to plagiarism, which recognises complexity, and for a more measured and collegial debate.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A