Arbitrary Principle — Interpretation of Statutes Notes

Arbitrary Principle

What do the ascetic principle and the principle of sympathy and antipathy have in common? Neither offers a fixed, external measure of right and wrong — each rests on feeling, faith or pride rather than on a checkable standard. Bentham groups such standards together as arbitrary — and it is exactly their arbitrariness that makes utility, with its measurable calculus, the superior guide.

What is an arbitrary principle?

An arbitrary principle is any principle of judgment that lacks a fixed, external, measurable standard — one that decides right and wrong by caprice, feeling, faith or mere assertion, rather than by an objective test. In Bentham’s scheme, the principles opposed to utility are all, in this sense, arbitrary.

Its features:

No external yardstick. The defining vice is the absence of an external measure. Where utility supplies a definite test (does the act augment or diminish happiness? — measurable by the felicific calculus), an arbitrary principle supplies no such test — it appeals to the judge’s own sentiment or dogma.
The chief examples. The two principles Bentham opposes to utility are arbitrary:
- the principle of sympathy and antipathy (Topic 7) — judgment by mere liking or disliking; and
- the ascetic principle (Topic 6) — judgment by an inverted standard (approving what diminishes happiness), itself resting on pride or fear. The principle of sympathy and antipathy is the clearest case of an arbitrary principle.
The danger — unpredictable, unequal law. A legislator using an arbitrary principle produces law that is inconsistent, unpredictable and unequal — varying with the ruler’s moods and prejudices. There is no way to check whether a decision is right, because there is no standard to check it against. This opens the door to caprice, cruelty and injustice.
Why utility is superior. Bentham’s whole case for utility is that it is the one non-arbitrary principle: it gives a single, external, measurable standard (happiness), against which every law can be tested and every dispute settled by reasoning. Utility replaces “I feel” and “I believe” with “I can measure and show”.

Principle (arbitrary standards): “A principle which offers no external measure of right and wrong, but rests on mere sentiment, dogma or assertion, is arbitrary; the principle of utility alone supplies a fixed external standard — the tendency to augment or diminish happiness — against which every act and law can be tested.”

In Simple Terms: An arbitrary principle is one with no fixed, external measure — it decides right and wrong by feeling, faith or mere assertion. The principle of sympathy and antipathy and the ascetic principle are both arbitrary. Such standards give unpredictable, unequal law. Utility is superior precisely because it supplies one measurable standard — happiness — that anyone can check.

🧩 WORKED EXAMPLE — Two legislators, two standards

Facts. Legislator A justifies a law by saying “it feels right to me”; Legislator B justifies hers by showing the law increases the community’s net happiness on the felicific calculus.

Rule. An arbitrary principle offers no external, checkable measure; utility supplies one, and is preferred for that reason.

Apply. A’s justification cannot be tested or debated — it rests on his sentiment (an arbitrary principle). B’s can be examined and reasoned about — it rests on a measurable standard (utility).

Conclusion. B’s approach is sound because it is non-arbitrary; A’s is rejected as arbitrary. The superiority of utility lies in its external, measurable standard.

flowchart TD
    ROOT["Arbitrary principle"]:::root
    ROOT --> A["No fixed external standard"]:::leaf
    ROOT --> B["Decides by feeling / faith / assertion"]:::leaf
    A --> C["Examples: sympathy & antipathy; asceticism"]:::leaf
    B --> C
    C --> D["Produces unpredictable, unequal law"]:::leaf
    D --> E["Utility is superior: one measurable standard (happiness)"]:::leaf
    classDef root fill:#FFF8DC,stroke:#000,stroke-width:1px,color:#000;
    classDef leaf fill:#E6F3FF,stroke:#1E3A8A,color:#000;
    linkStyle default stroke:#888,stroke-width:1px;

Key Points & Sources

An arbitrary principle = no external measure; the vice Bentham holds against every rival of utility.
The principle of sympathy and antipathy is the clearest arbitrary principle; the ascetic principle is arbitrary too.
Group this topic with Topics 6 and 7; the exam usually pairs it with the sympathy-antipathy critique.

📄 Full notes + Question Bank (₹199) — every topic in depth, model answers to all past KSLU questions, in one printable PDF. Get the bundle · 10 Solved Problems · All Interpretation of Statutes topics