 Dewey answers his own question with his account of the generic traits, one which purportedly provides “a ground-map of the province of criticism, establishing base lines to be employed in more intricate triangulations” (EN, LW1:  308).[18]  New maps, new ways of looking at existence can defang old truisms—e.g., men are rational, women are emotional, humans are intelligent, animals are dumb, etc.—and facilitate the creation of new meanings. Many of philosophy’s conceptual tools (kinds, categories, dualisms, aims, and values) were entrenched; a reconsideration of the “what” and “how” of existents promised a basis for a new start.