Temple wrote of Hackethal:
Please donât believe things just because he states them as facts and provides source links. His claims often contradict his sources.
and
Hackethal frequently uses source links to make his claims look true.
This reminded me of Hackethalâs claim that Temple is a hypocrite on the issue of plagiarism because Temple used the phrase âactive-mindedâ.
Hackethal wrote (link omitted):
The part âactive-mindedâ is an implicit reference to one of Randâs ideas (which Temple makes explicit only much further down his article, contrary to his own stance on avoiding plagiarism). An active mind (as opposed to an open one) is one that critically evaluates ideas and holds firm convictions. Rand says objectivists should have an active mind.
But Hackethalâs own link to Templeâs alleged stance on avoiding plagiarism says:
When criticizing others, including me, Templeâs stance on plagiarism is: âPlagiarism is taking credit for ideas or writing that isnât yours.â He says the name of the originator of an idea should be âin the main textâ and ânot just in the [end]note [âŚ].â He explains his stance further: âThe appropriate action is to credit [the originator] by name in the main text every time one of [their] major ideas is introduced, at minimum.â He does not define âmajorâ. â[I]ntentional malice is clearâ to him when an originator is not credited âeven onceâ.
Temple gives several quotes of Rand discussing the concept of an active mind âin the main textâ of the article Hackethal is referencing. Temple not only names Rand as the source but specifically names âAyn Randâs Philosophical Detection, from Philosophy: Who Needs It.â Also, Temple is not âtaking creditâ for the idea. (Also, I personally wouldnât regard it as one of Randâs âmajor ideasâ anyway.)
So Hackethalâs own example of Temple allegedly acting contrary to his own stance on plagiarism is just blatantly false.
I guess Hackethal is counting on his readers not bothering to check his claims and just assuming that what he says must be true because he provides links. As Temple says: âHackethal frequently uses source links to make his claims look true.â and âHis claims often contradict his sources.â
Also, even if Temple didnât quote Rand on the issue of having an active mind, I think the context makes it clear anyway. Virtually any reader whoâs enough of a Rand fan to be aware of the existence of Harry Binswanger would get the reference. (I think Temple is basically saying that Binswanger banned Temple even though Temple has qualities Rand championed (such as being âactive-mindedâ). So itâs implicitly crediting Rand for identifying and championing that quality anyway. Itâs also implicitly criticizing Binswanger for not appreciating a quality that Rand championed.)
Also, more broadly, Temple says that heâs a fan of Ayn Rand in the sidebar/header thingo of his curi blog. Even Templeâs X/Twitter bio says that he likes Ayn Rand. Temple also explicitly says that he/CF âbuilds onâ and âtakes inspiration fromâ Objectivism.
I guess Hackethal is trying to make it seem like Temple is being unreasonable about avoiding plagiarism and giving credit in order to obscure Hackethalâs own plagiarism of ET/CF. But if Hackethal were to act the way that Temple does in Hackethalâs own cherry-picked âactive-mindedâ example, then Hackethal would have toâlike Templeâcredit and quote ET/CF âin the main textâ of his articles, say heâs a fan of ET/CF in the sidebar/header of his blog (and even X/Twitter bio), acknowledge which ideas used for Veritula come from ET/CF andâeven if Hackethal were to originate new ideasâacknowledge that he âbuilds onâ and âtakes inspiration fromâ ET/CF, etc., etc. None of which Hackethal does. To the contrary, Hackethal attacks and lies about Templeâpresumably in an attempt to obscure the fact that Hackethal plagiarized ET/CF.