 Since Dewey is a pragmatist and meliorist, it is worth asking: How can metaphysics contribute to the world beyond academic philosophy? Dewey’s larger ambition was to return philosophy to an older, ancient mission—the pursuit of wisdom. And while Dewey describes philosophy as inherently critical, a “criticism of criticisms”, where does that leave even an empirical, hypothetical, naturalistic metaphysics? (EN, LW1: 298) Dewey raises the issue, prophylactically: 