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19:19 Oct 23, 2009
French to English translations [PRO] Social Sciences - Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc. / politics
French term or phrase:l'arbitraire
"Activités économiques menacées par l'arbitraire"
It's in a "problem tree", within a cell. The whole phrase must be half a dozen words and make sense. I'm stuck. "Economic activities threatened by arbitrary decisions" wouldn't make sense to me.
Explanation: I think your own "arbitrary decisions" works well, though this suggestion is more general.
My main motivation in proposing an answer is to suggest that "Economic activities *vulnerable to*..." would be an appropriate way to render the first part.
Thanks Melissa and everybody. I've found "Economic activities vulnerable to arbitrary factors" appropriately neutral, sleek and efficient 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
"L'arbitraire" in this context has to do with "bad governance" really while "contingencies" (in F. imprévus, aléas, etc.) relates more to the general impredictibility of events (the "vagaries" as one answerer has put it), as far as I can see. I may go along with Simon's solution or use "discretionary decisions/measures" or even "chance decisions" if nothing better turns up before I close this question tomorrow night.
Francis, is there any hint at all in the rest of the document what "l'arbitraire" refers to? If it really is unexpected or chance events, one would probably say "contingencies" in an economic context, but we have no way of knowing, based on the information we have, whether this is accurate. The French doesn't say "imprévus" or "éventualités," which is what one would expect if they really were talking about random, chance events.
Explanation: another option - something for which you cannot prepare
Travelin Ann Local time: 21:16 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 10
1 hr confidence: peer agreement (net): +2
the arbitrary
Explanation: There's no reason why arbitrary shouldn't be used as a noun in this context (as in the French), provided it is preceded by the definitite article 'the'.
This avoids all sorts of more-or-less severe mistranslations such as 'random', 'chance', 'unexpected', none of which really equates to 'arbitraire' - and you don't need to know whether it refers to decisions, events or whatver else.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2009-10-23 20:41:57 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Re Asker's comment below: Would you say the same about the well-known film title: 'The good, the bad and the ugly'? If not, then pray explain the difference...
The use of adjective as nouns is perfectly valid in English - as it is in French, too. The only constraint - again, in both languages - is that they must be preceded by the definitite article.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2009-10-23 22:13:29 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Resultados 1 - 10 de aproximadamente 172.000 de "the arbitrary is". (Google query formulated to focus on use of arbitrary as a noun.)
Arbitrary — Ayn Rand Lexicon - [ Traducir esta página ]In a sense, therefore, the arbitrary is even worse than the false. The false at least has a relation (albeit a negative one) to reality; it has reached the ...
aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/arbitrary.html - En caché - Similares
The Arbitrary in Ethics - [ Traducir esta página ]sistence upon the arbitrary is an expression of his demand that ethics not merely describe moral conflicts, but do something about ... www.jstor.org/stable/2017952 - Similares
de EW Hall - 1939 - Artículos relacionados
True, False, Arbitrary: ARIanese vs. English - [ Traducir esta página ]If the arbitrary is an additional possible classification, something that is neither true nor false, then something might fail to be true without being ... www.geocities.com/amosapient/peikoff.html - En caché - Similares
Learn how to use Arbitrary in a sentence - Brainyflix - [ Traducir esta página ]Great as their ordinance seems, it is evanescent as arbitrary : the arbitrary is but the slavish puffed up--and is gone with the hour . ... www.brainyflix.com/words/arbitrary - En caché - Similares
What is architecture? - Resultado de la Búsqueda de libros de Googlede Andrew Ballantyne - 2002 - Architecture - 206 páginas
When Eisenman says that the arbitrary is that without origin or value he has not lost the strong connection with the arbitrary as accidental or unwilled. ...
books.google.cl/books?isbn=0415256275...
Politics and Romanticism -- Bainbridge 34 (4): 397 -- The ... - [ Traducir esta página ]Not only is there a double discourse of the arbitrary but, as Keach shows through valuable etymological analysis, in both discourses the arbitrary is ...
camqtly.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/34/4/397 - Similares
de S Bainbridge - 2005
The Absolute and the Arbitrary - [ Traducir esta página ]the arbitrary is better described as the triumph of possibility over actuality, .... parallel by forgetting that the arbitrary is just as violent as the ...
doi.wiley.com/10.1111/1468-0025.00189 - Similares
Nature of the Linguistic Sign - [ Traducir esta página ]The domain of the arbitrary is thus left outside the extension or the Iing!Jistic sign, …rather pointless to defend the principle of the "arbitrariness of ...
phoenixandturtle.net/excerptmill/benveniste.htm - Similares
Witch Doctor Repellent: The arbitrary is not "possible" - [ Traducir esta página ]22 Feb 2006 ... The arbitrary is not "possible" · This is what happens when you use imagination as a standard of knowledge and a guide to action. ...
witchdoctorrepellent.blogspot.com/.../arbitrary-is-not-possible.html - En caché - Similares
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 3 hrs (2009-10-23 23:05:45 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Re asker's 2nd and 3rd notes below:
There's nothing specifically 'epistemological' or 'arcane' about a perfectly standard English construct which, like the French, uses the definite article plus an adjective to refer to a class of things (whatever they may be) that share the characteristic referred to by the adjective.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 4 hrs (2009-10-23 23:46:31 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Re Asker's last note below:
No. Sorry, life's too short...
If you classify your question as "Social Sciences - Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc. / politics", and post a source text which is evidently targeted at people with an above-average level of education (people able to understand and reflect upon problem trees in economics), you should expect to get academic/philosophical/linguistic answers.
xxxmediamatrix Local time: 23:16 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 12
Notes to answerer
Asker: I have strong doubts about the "the arbitrary" as a noun function in English, mediamatrix.
Asker: Granted. "The arbitrary" does work as epistemological concept or in arcane philosophical discussions (Ayn Rand, etc.) but what does it do in a business project proposal when what it seems to refer to here are "whimsical decision-makers", "bias decisions", "decisions motivated by vested interests", etc. How would you nail this concept in one or two words ?
Asker: I mean *biased decisions*
Asker: Please mediatrix, give me just one example where « the arbitrary» is used as a noun in a context which is NOT an academic discussion on some fine philosophical point or the general theory of language – i.e. totally alien to the context of my source document just described – and I’ll close this question and award you the points.
13 hrs confidence:
l\'arbitraire
Arbitrariness
Explanation: There is no mention of "decision"in the original sentence. I think the sentence can simply be traslated as "Economic activities threatened by arbitrariness".
Also to be noted is that it is used as a noun.
Example sentence(s):
The basic principle of the arbitrariness of the sign (l\'arbitraire du signe) in the extract is: there is no natural reason why a particular sign should be attached to a particular concept.
Explanation: I think your own "arbitrary decisions" works well, though this suggestion is more general.
My main motivation in proposing an answer is to suggest that "Economic activities *vulnerable to*..." would be an appropriate way to render the first part.
Melissa McMahon Australia Local time: 13:16 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Thanks Melissa and everybody. I've found "Economic activities vulnerable to arbitrary factors" appropriately neutral, sleek and efficient
Explanation: since it is a matter of politics more than anything else, we are truly dealing with the weight of personal decisions and power games. In this case discretionary does indeed seem to fit better
Valérie Hartwich Local time: 02:16 Specializes in field Native speaker of: French
The translation workplace 
