Abstract
The introductory chapter to this book on the Ambedkar–Gandhi debate will bring up three important questions, answers to which, underlay the conflicts between them. These are questions about the relationship between the present and the past and can be spelt out as follows; can one access the past from the standpoint of the present; How should one relate to an emotion (whether such an emotion be in the present or in the past) which overrides all other emotions and dominates one’s mental life? And lastly, how ought one to understand and respond to a politics of suffering. This chapter and the book will unpack Ambedkar and Gandhi’s very different answers to these questions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The second of Gandhi’s three debates was with Tagore and I have made a somewhat detailed study of it in The Gandhi Tagore Debate: On matters of Truth and Untruth. Sophia: Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures, Vol. 9, Springer 2015. (ISBN 978-81-322-2115-9).
- 2.
Gandhi 1888–1948 refers to the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. The volume concerned and the page numbers from which citations from Gandhi are drawn have been mentioned within parentheses. These have been mentioned to indicate the exact location of the quotation in the electronic edition of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. However, for the purposes of reference, it may be noted that I have resourced these volumes from the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi: Volumes 1 to 98. New Delhi: Publications Division Government of India, 1999. Accessed online in May 2021 at https://www.gandhiashramsevagram.org/gandhi-literature/collected-works-of-mahatma-gandhi-volume-1-to-98.php.
- 3.
Ambedkar 2014, refers to the 17 volumes of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar writings and Speeches. The volume concerned and the page numbers from which citations have been drawn have been mentioned within parentheses. These have been mentioned to indicate the exact location of the quotation in the 17 volumes. However, for the purposes of reference, it may be noted that I have resourced these volumes from Ambedkar, B.R. 2014. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar writings and Speeches, edited by Vasant Moon (set of 17 Volumes). New Delhi: Dr Ambedkar Foundation. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Government of India.
- 4.
The year mentioned within parentheses against the texts represent their original year of publication. These have been mentioned to show the chronology of the books. However, for the purposes of reference, I have resourced these books from the set of 17 volumes entitled Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar writings and Speeches, edited by Vasant Moon, 2014. New Delhi: Dr. Ambedkar Foundation. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Government of India.
References
Ambedkar, B. R. 2011. The Buddha and his dhamma. Eds. and Trans. Aakash Singh Rathore and Ajay Verma. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Ambedkar, B.R. 2014. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar writings and speeches, ed. Vasant Moon. 17 Vols. New Delhi: Dr Ambedkar Foundation. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India.
Ardent, H. 1998. The human condition. Chicago, London: University of Chicago Press.
Bhattacharya, K.C. 2011. Swaraj in ideas. In Indian Philosophy in English: From Renaissance to Independence, eds. Nalini Bhushan and Jay L. Garfield, 103–114. New York: Oxford University Press.
Bhattacharya, S. ed 2008. The Mahatma and the poet: Letters and debates between Gandhi and Tagore, 1915–1941, 5th ed. New Delhi: National Book Trust.
Gandhi, M. K. 1888–1948. Collected works of Mahatma Gandhi. 98 Vols. https://www.gandhiashramsevagram.org/gandhi-literature/collected-works-of-mahatma-gandhi-volume-1-to-98.php (accessed May 2021).
Guru, Gopal & Sarukkai, S. (eds) 2012a. The cracked mirror: An Indian debate on experience and theory. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Guru, Gopal & Sarukkai, S. 2012b. Introduction. In The cracked mirror: An Indian debate on experience and theory. eds. Gopal Guru and Sundar Sarukkai, 3–8. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Guru, Gopal. 2012a. Egalitarianism and the Social Sciences in India. In The cracked mirror: An Indian debate on experience and theory. eds. Gopal Guru and Sundar Sarukkai, 9–28. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Guru, Gopal. 2012b. Experience and the ethics of theory. In The cracked mirror: An Indian debate on experience and theory. eds. Gopal Guru and Sundar Sarukkai, 107–27. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
MacIntyre, A. 1988. Whose justice? which rationality? Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press.
Nagraj, D. R. 2015. The flaming feet and other essays: The Dalit Movement in India. Ed. Prithvi Datta Chandra Shobhi. Ranikhet: Permanent Black.
Nandy, A. 2009. Exile at home. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Nandy, A. 2015. Foreword to The flaming feet and other essays: The Dalit Movement in India. by D. R. Nagraj. Ed. Prithvi Datta Chandra Shobhi. Ranikhet: Permanent Black.
Peters, John Durham. 1993. Distrust of representation: Habermas on the public sphere. Media, Culture & Society. 15 (4): 541–571.
Puri, Bindu. 2015. The Gandhi Tagore debate: On matters of truth and untruth. Sophia: Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures, vol. 9. New Delhi: Springer.
Rathore, Aakash Singh and Ajay Verma, eds. 2011. Introduction. The Buddha and his dhamma. A critical Edition. ix–xxiv. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Sarukkai, S. 2012a. Experience and theory: From Habermas to Gopal Guru. In The cracked mirror: An Indian debate on experience and theory. eds. Gopal Guru and Sundar Sarukkai, 29–45. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Sarukkai, S. 2012b. Ethics of theorizing. In The cracked mirror: An Indian debate on experience and theory. eds. Gopal Guru and Sundar Sarukkai, 128–56. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Shobhi, Prithvi Datta Chandra. 2015. Introduction to The flaming feet and other essays: The Dalit Movement in India. by D. R. Nagraj. Ed. Prithvi Datta Chandra Shobhi. Ranikhet: Permanent Black.
Tagore, R. 2008. The English writings of Rabindranath Tagore, vol. 3. Ed. S.K. Das. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi.
Tagore, Rabindranath 2012. The home and the world. In Rabindranath Tagore Omnibus, vol. 3, 205–425. New Delhi: Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd.
Taylor, C. 2001. Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Vajpeyi, A. 2013. Righteous republic: The political foundations of modern India. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Puri, B. (2022). By Way of Introduction: The Ambedkar–Gandhi Debate: Three Fundamental Questions. In: The Ambedkar–Gandhi Debate. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8686-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8686-3_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-16-8685-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-16-8686-3
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)