Wittgenstein and Policy Making

"The limit of  my language are the limits of my world" -Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

Profound and impressionable were the words Ludwig Wittgenstein used to write. Profound, impressionable.....and overarching. It may or may not be a slight stretch to call the above quote a Wittgenstein's unified thesis of everything human. However, one thing is certain, the above quote has a lot to offer by way of policy making.

If one takes the above statement to its logical conclusion and applies it to policy making, the person may find that the key to a successful new policy has 2 important characteristics:

a) It attempts to change the existing language of the people.

and/or

b) It attempts to reflect the already changed language of the people.

To illuminate this point further, consider the following examples.

The right to equality in Indian constitution guards against discrimination along caste lines. Caste is always an ever present specter in Indian society hence this policy was aimed at changing the existing language of the people and perhaps, one day, removing the latitudes that caste lines draw.  Another example, this time of the second scenario, is the Arab spring. The violent protests that raged all across the Arab world was an expression of widespread language of democratic values among the masses. This was a clear indication that new policies needed to be introduced in order to reflect the already changed language of the people.

This also speaks volumes about what makes a good policy maker. It is someone that has a broad grasp of language, and whose language is able to adapt based on foresight or scenarios of present.