DECISIONS OF PRINCIPLE

4.4.4 The truth is that, if asked to justify as completely as possible any decision,
we have to bring in both effects -- to give content to the decision -- and
principles, and the effects in general of observing those principles, and so on,
until we have satisfied our inquirer. Thus a complete justification of a decision
would consist of a complete account of its effects, together with a complete
account of the principles which it observed, and the effects of observing those
principles -- for, of course, it is the effects (what obeying them in fact consists in)
which give content to the principles too. Thus, if pressed to justify a decision
completely, we have to give a complete specification of the way of life of which it
is a part. This complete specification it is impossible in practice to give; the
nearest attempts are those given by the great religions, especially those which
can point to historical persons who carried out the way of life in practice.
Suppose, however, that we can give it. If the inquirer still goes on asking 'But
why should I live like that?' then there is no further answer to give him, because
we have already, ex hypothesi, said everything that could be included in this
further answer. We can only ask him to make up his own mind which way he
ought to live; for in the end everything rests upon such a decision of principle.
He has to decide whether to accept that way of life or not; if he accepts it, then
we can proceed to justify the decisions that are based upon it; if he does not
accept it, then let him accept some other, and try to live by it. The sting is in the
last clause. To describe such ultimate decisions as arbitrary, because ex hypothesi
everything which could be used to justify them has already been included in the
decision, would be like saying that a complete description of the universe was
utterly unfounded, because no further fact could be called upon in corroboration
of it. This is not how we use the words 'arbitrary' and 'unfounded'. Far from
being arbitrary, such a decision would be the most well-founded of decisions,
because it would be based upon a consideration of everything upon which it
could possibly be founded.