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( Arbitrary)
Arbitrary is a term given to choices and actions which are considered to be done not by means of any underlying principle or logic, but by whim or some decidedly illogical formula. For example, rearranging the letters of the alphabet so the letters appear in a staggered fashion (e.g. ab-cd-ef-gh) for no reason. If there was a direct purpose in doing so, such as to make a better alphabet, then it would not be considered arbitrary. Arbitrary decisions are not necessarily the same as random decisions. For instance, during the 1973 oil crisis, Americans were only allowed to purchase gasoline on odd-numbered days if their license plate was odd, and on even-numbered days if their license plate was even. The system was well-defined and not random in its restrictions; however, since license plate numbers have nothing to do with a person's fitness to purchase gasoline, it is still an arbitrary division of people. Similarly, schoolchildren are often organized by their surname in alphabetical order, a non-random yet still arbitrary method, at least in most cases where surnames are irrelevant. Arbitrary actions are closely related to teleology, the study of purpose. Actions lacking a telos, a goal, are necessarily arbitrary. With no end to measure against, there can be no standard applied to choices, so all decisions are alike. Note that arbitrary or random methods in the standard sense of arbitrary may not qualify as arbitrary choices philosophically, if they were done in furtherance of a larger purpose; in the examples above, discipline in school and avoiding overcrowding at gas stations. Many brands of theism, the belief in a deity or deities, believe that everything has a purpose and that nothing is arbitrary. In these philosophies, God created the universe for a reason, and every event flows from that. Even seemingly random events cannot escape God's hand and purpose. This is somewhat related to the argument from design, the argument for God's existence because a purpose can be found in the universe.
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