The Watchmaker: my fav argument

[John 6IX Breezy]

Hawking's point was not that one can arbitrarily chose any theory you like. 

I don't know whether or not Hawking would agree. But as far as his book is concerned, he only favors one theory over the other on the basis of simplicity (which I would argue is equivalent to being arbitrary). And he seems to leave the actual nature of the universe to philosophy. Here's the rest of his quote for reference:

"Despite its role in philosophical debates over the nature of our universe, the real advantage of the Copernican system is simply that the equations of motion are much simpler in the frame of reference in which the sun is at rest."