Dewey’s pragmatism shaped Ambedkar’s critique of rigid moral rules

Evidence

Once again, Ambedkar seems to be alluding to his mentor Dewey (1922, 239), who writes: “As habits set in grooves dominate activity and swerve it from conditions instead of increasing its adaptability, so principles treated as fixed rules instead of as helpful methods take men away from experience. The more complicated the situation, and the less we really know about it, the more insistent is the orthodox type of moral theory upon the prior existence of some fixed and universal principle or law which is to be directly applied and followed.” There is a certain tension here between Dewey’s words—who seems critical of rigid application of principles—and those of Ambedkar, who advocates sound principles as the only possible foundation for morality. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1176

Categorization

• XREF: Connects Ambedkar’s philosophical debt to American pragmatism (James, Dewey), a throughline in many Ambedkar biographies. — connects to: Ambedkar prized universal principles where Dewey distrusted fixed rules.; Ambedkar drew directly from Dewey’s Democracy and Education for AoC — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1064; Ambedkar turned Dewey’s associated living into a tool demanding democracy beyond politics — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1098 (+7 more)
• QUESTION: The noted tension between Dewey’s anti-fixed-rule stance and Ambedkar’s advocacy of principles as morality’s foundation deserves chasing in the primary text.
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Ambedkar prized universal principles where Dewey distrusted fixed rules.; Ambedkar drew directly from Dewey’s Democracy and Education for AoC — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1064; Ambedkar turned Dewey’s associated living into a tool demanding democracy beyond politics — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1098 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Ambedkar prized universal principles where Dewey distrusted fixed rules. #complicates (0.78)
• The Enlightenment’s core project displaced local moralities with universal rational ones #complicates (0.72) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 71