How do we know what’s True? How can we decipher what is real among lies?

“Triple Threat at Suez Canal, Panama Canal, & Mexico Attack Freight”

Dear Classical Wisdom Reader,

Thus read the subject line of the warehouse and fulfillment newsletter I received a few weeks back. You see, one of the small added benefits of having our book 100 years in the making, is that I had to enter the whole old brick and mortar, tangible world of shipping, thus adding my email to the list. 

Once a week I get the news and learn where boxes and barges are being held up, what havoc hurricanes hath wrought, what hijackers have descended on ships in canals or on the high seas... Wars, weather and holidays rank highest for global distribution, you may not be shocked to learn.

What I was a little surprised about was how I find myself appreciating this factual line up of the world’s often fragile lines of commerce. No extreme headlines meant to sway or manipulate. No political biases or agendas to confer or coax. No advertisers to lure or obey. Just the plain facts ma’am and thanks for coming. 

What a reprieve! What a breath of fresh air! 

Of course it’s no revelation to you, dear reader, that the fourth estate has dropped their once high standards. In fact, it’s no news to anyone... the stats show that faith in the mainstream media is at an all time low. According to Gallup, 38% of US adults don’t trust newspapers, TV, or radio at all. 

And frankly, I can often see why. Major news outlet’s headlines are so pumped with emotive and sensationalized phrases, it’s as if the idea of objective reporting never even occurred to them. Everyone is after clicks or pursuing political agendas. 

I hate to sound cynical, but we are seeing the most illuminating examples of this first hand here in Argentina - especially with regards to how the new anarcho-capitalist president, Javier Millei, is presented in newspapers up north. Dear husband has been reporting on the issue, comparing, for instance, headlines that shout about the ‘thousands protesting’ rather than the tens of thousands of protesters that didn’t show up. I suppose the ‘lack of’ something makes for considerably less click bait... 

(I should note that even though he did train as a journalist, his “Notes from the End of the World” are clearly opinion pieces and do not pretend to be otherwise.)

Nonetheless, this is a perfect example of why we need the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. No easy task... which brings us to today’s question:  

How can we attempt to comprehend the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? How can folks who don’t subscribe to warehouse and fulfillment companies learn the happenings without the hysteria? What can we do to cut to the reality without the biases, the partisan politics and propaganda? 

Essentially, how can we know what is true? 

Following this to the fullest conclusion, we come to skepticism - the ancient philosophy of questioning how we can know anything at all. 

One of the greatest proponents of this school of thought was the eclectic philosopher and self-proclaimed academic skeptic, Cicero. Readers and Members may recall our recent article on his questions about Stoicism and what the Roman statesman saw as its inherent paradoxes...

If you didn’t catch it, you can do so here: 

Cicero felt strongly that we should question how we know what we know...and I’m certain if he were alive today, he’d be encouraging us to do the same… especially nowadays.

So, to reiterate today’s question:

How can we know what’s true? In politics, in media, and down to the very fundamentals of knowledge itself... and can we ever really know if anything is true at all? 

As always, reply to this email or write to me directly at anya@classicalwisdom.com with your insights. 

We’ll post your responses next week... and in the meantime, you can enjoy today’s replies to “What is Plagiarism?” below.

All the best,

Anya Leonard

Founder and Director
Classical Wisdom 

P.S. Sometimes we can only learn the truth through what may be unlikely sources… such is the case with comedy. Through parody and satire, authors were able to write honestly about those in power… when others couldn’t.

Make sure to become a Classical Wisdom Member to enjoy this week’s deep dive into Aristophanes and the nature of Man and War:

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Monday Mailbag

Re: What is Plagiarism? 

Thank you for your wonderful article on Plagiarism. 

Igor Stravinsky once said ( I believe)

"Good composers borrow, great composers steal".

Sounds like he might have stolen the T.S.Eliot quip you cited. 

Happy New Year. 

Jonathan 

Toronto,Canada 

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If I paraphrase something that I read or heard, but write it in my own words or style, then I do not consider myself obliged to cite the source, although I often will, if I can remember who said or wrote it. But if I copy exactly the work of another person, I am ethically obliged to cite them as the source. It seems obvious to me that a citation that runs only a few words, especially in a context that is different from an earlier source, may not be a citation, but rather just a coincidence, but when we are talking two or three sentences or a paragraph or more, coincidence is harder to accept.

I will note that with music, variations on a theme can be harder to pin down. I would argue that music should not be held to the same standards as the written word.

And while on the topic, let me mention what might be considered anti-plagiarism, or the attribution of a quote to someone whose name makes it sound more authoritative. An example: History does not repeat, but it does rhyme. 

I have seen this attributed to Mark Twain and other famous people, but the first time I ever read it was around 2012, and I have never seen anyone cite where in Mark Twain's corpus of work that quote can be found. This is not an issue in the way that plagiarism is, but I suspect that many of those long-dead authors would be bemused by many of the sayings now attributed to them.

Gordon F.

Cuenca, Ecuador

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The moral problem with plagiarism is not that it is theft, but fraud.  It is presenting as one's own what someone else generated.  The student who submits a paper he/she purchased didn't steal anything, but is guilty of plagiarism, or so it seems to me.

Frederik K

Oh boy! As a writer myself, I have THOUGHTS on plagiarism! 

First and foremost, the definition: taking someone else’s work, either verbatim or close to it, and passing it off as your own. Ideas cannot be plagiarized. Tropes cannot be plagiarized. Concepts cannot be plagiarized. Plagiarism involves actual chunks of text being lifted from one source to another and passed off as someone else’s. 

To your example with music sampling: not plagiarism. One artist requested use of that beat from the originating artist, paid a [hefty] fee for it, and used it in their song. Respectful homage. There was just a court case of the estate of Marvin Gaye v Ed Sheeran over a chord progression. The court ruled in Sheeran’s favor, claiming a chord progression is not copyrightable (read: can’t be plagiarized). It’s too broad and the implications of that would be catastrophic. 

When it comes to writing, there are only so many story concepts one can write. All fiction can be boiled down to like six different archetypal stories. I’m a firm believer that everything we writers write, regardless of genre, is fanfiction of some sort. It’s all this infinite Venn diagram of ideas with inspiration from myriad sources. We are humans and we don’t exist in a vacuum. It’s impossible to NOT be influenced by the world around us and the things we consume, either consciously or subconsciously. 

There is a very annoying problem on BookTok presently where readers will read a book (usually Sarah J Maas or maybe Holly Black) and think the concept of fairy courts was born with them. They will then go on to accuse other authors writing with similar tropes of plagiarism. The rest of us are like . Because we know better. The concept of fairies was not birthed into this world with ACOTAR. 

I think it boils down to a lot of people not actually knowing what plagiarism is and not thinking beyond the end of their own noses about what they’re reading, nor doing the additional work of reading more broadly before laying claims. Sherilynn Kenyon tried suing Cassandra Clare for plagiarism because the basic stories of their two books were similar. Not enough for plagiarism. Because tropes and basic storylines are common and not the result of any one author. Even the ancients were influenced by their predecessors. Storytelling is not unique to the Greeks or the Italians. There are no original ideas, as evidenced by various creation myths around the world being super similar to each other when these disparate cultures would have had no contact with each other. It’s a hard pill to swallow for people, but if you have an idea, the chances are ten other people will have that same idea, and people you are not in contact with. Ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s what you do with it that’s unique to you. 

Donna 

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ALL you have to do is REWORD the data, and CITE the source. That is easy, and a crime when ideas are stolen.  - GC

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Plagiarism is to ideas what rape is to a woman. It is the theft of the thoughts of another. Acknowledging the source of these thoughts is moral, ethical, reasonable and prudent. Citing the author and source permits the free exchange of thought and ideas which leads to new levels of creativity, imagination, innovation and progressive thought.

The world is steeped and drowned in established thought. Education is no longer learning: it has become dogma and indoctrination on what to think. Imagination and so called outside the box thinking is under ruthless attack by the paragons of education. The narrative must not change.

The Law of Nations inspired the framers of the Constitution. Every delegate read that book. Yes it is necessary to cite source of inspiration then present the fruit of the inspiration so created. Every man is a mental snowflake and no two snowflakes are the same. Same for new ideas and creativity. It is the essence of what separates man from beast.

Charles F.

Original thought? “ There is nothing new over the sun.” jMe

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There is an order to things, I will adjust myself.

Is this plagiarism or is this an original thought?

Both.

During my readings, I read the first of this thought. The other half was brought about by a reading that suggests we adjust ourselves to our conditions. The reading goes, “we were maladjusted.”

The readings are not from the same source.

Reese H.

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(The ur-copy (plaga,a 'net') editor). L. Plagarius, a kidnapping

When Gilgamesh was first published in...London Times was it? (1852 or 1874 one of those dates) their windows were smashed for suggesting God (Torah, Genesis, Noah and Naamah) was a plagiarist.

Stay with Lear: 'nothing will come of nothing'.

K [stet]

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