Prior to examining the durability of the binary view (Chapter 3) and its attractive qualities for many policy actors (Chapter 4), Part I surveyed some of its effects within the policy world. We considered both specific effects, such as end-of-the-ine thinking and foundational pessimism (Chapter 1), and a broader impact, the quest for exogenous values (Chapter 2).

But the policy world, of course, is simply an aspect of the world. I wish to end Part I by musing on the various relations that the world of policy might have with our civilization as a whole. I say ‘musing’ because what follows is clearly speculative. I wish to reflect on the sort of civilization that ‘fits’ with the binary view, while recognizing that, as has been argued throughout this work, the binary view is half-believed and coexists in this world with other beliefs, which also have their effects.

One can reasonably argue that the policy world is, even now, a space in which at least some of a society's collective aspirations are ‘translated’, expressed as a series of practical actions. It could also be a place where reflection on the implications of those concrete actions, and on their likely side effects, could in turn lead us to second thoughts about our collective aspirations. In doing this, it would contribute to our world's capacity for disciplined normative reflection. This potential role was nicely expressed in Wildavsky's suggestion that ‘Analysis teaches us not only how to get what we want … but what we ought to want’ (1979, 18). Thus, policy analysis could serve as part of humanity's ‘compass’, one of the means by which we reflect upon where we are headed and where we should be headed (not just how we can get there quicker).

This is not to say that, in an ideal world, every analyst would be as proficient in philosophical reflection as in quantitative modeling techniques, or that we would all be thinking simultaneously about how to get this done and why is this worth doing. To use an analogy: there will always be emergencyroom nurses and physicians whose job is to fix immediate problems. But no reasonably functional society would limit its healthcare to this.