The Coherence of Navayāna Pragmatism: Ambedkar and the Pragmatist Reconstruction of Buddhist Philosophy

This paper examines the philosophical coherence of B.R. Ambedkar’s reconstruction of his (Navayāna) Buddhism in relation to John Dewey’s pragmatism. Building on Scott Stroud’s reading of Ambedkar as a Deweyan Pragmatist (2017, 2023), it argues that Dewey’s evolutionary naturalism, his conception of growth, and pragmatic redefinition of concepts provide Ambedkar with the methodological tools for a naturalistic and socially reconstructive reinterpretation of Buddhist doctrines such as anicca (impermanence), dhamma (Buddha’s teaching), nirvāṇa (enlightenment), karuna (compassion), etc. Ambedkar transforms impermanence from a metaphysics of flux into an ethics of progressive growth, and recasts dhamma as a social morality grounded in fraternity and equality rather than individual salvation from the cycle of saṃsāra (rebirths). Yet Ambedkar’s emergentist account of consciousness departs from Dewey’s organic model, inclining more toward ancient Indian materialism and resonating with early twentieth-century emergentist views. By integrating Deweyan pragmatism with a materialist ontology, Ambedkar creates a uniquely modern, emancipatory Buddhism that reconciles spiritual ideals with social democracy and places the experience of the oppressed at the center of philosophical inquiry.