Abstract
The influence of pragmatism on institutionalism, and in particular on that of John Commons, is now widely recognized. In particular, the importance of rules and habits in behaviour has been well highlighted in pragmatism. Nevertheless, the importance, in this current of thought, of thinking about the bifurcation with rules and habits has been underestimated. This article points out that John Dewey, one of the most influential pragmatists, thought about these transformations. These are studied on the basis of three key concepts: experience, transaction and emotion. This provides a new avenue for economic analysis, particularly in the role that emotions can play in changes in rules and behavioural habits. Dewey thus invites us to a more emotionally embedded economics than economic analysis has so far produced.