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 The statement is confusing. It seems that Dewey wishes to have his cake and eat it too. He spends over four hundred pages arguing that we should accept his method of philosophical criticism. Dewey criticizes other philosophers of selective emphasis then claims we should accept his theory of the ineluctable traits of natural existence as a starting point for philosophic discovery or his selective emphasis. Dewey's method of philosophy claims the world is constantly changing and that truth can only be obtained according to the values we place on it. Dewey shows how our values, experiences, and culture change what we perceive as true. Truth, like nature constantly changes and hence, cannot be predicted or permanently defined. Dewey, by offering a selective emphasis of the natural traits nature, Dewey is, once again, guilty of his own criticism. There cannot be a selective emphasis in the system of philosophy Dewey espouses. Dewey states of selective emphasis:
Perhaps the leap from philosophical metaphysics to philosophical pragmatics was too steep for Dewey. Nature changes slowly and so do our values and the way we experience nature. Dewey's pragmatism builds upon a theory by adding meaning and value through empirical experience. Previous philosophers ignored empirical experience, and therefore were stuck being prognosticators, predicting what the results of future events would be, and accepting those predictions as truths. By adding experience, Dewey changed the way we discover and accept facts. Dewey was unable to avoid all the cultural values of his predecessors because it was these values and meanings he wished to make better and more enhanced. He would have been better off scraping previous philosophy and its inherent flaws and starting from current societal and cultural experiences. Rorty criticizes Dewey and uses that criticism toward better and more enhance meaning and value of Dewey's method. Rorty states:
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