Pragmatism and the Reflective Life explains the moral perspective embedded in the American pragmatist tradition and offers pragmatist moral thought as an alternative to analytic moral theory. Following the lead of John Dewey, Rosenbaum explores what it means to make the ideal of the reflective life implicit in pragmatism central to an understanding of morality. The discussion illuminates how this ideal of the reflective life captures the value of both individual autonomy and communal ideals and encourages commitment to a radically idealistic and ecumenical hope in the power of inclusive democracy and global egalitarianism.

"In this lucid study, Rosenbaum does an excellent job of presenting a topic that gets less attention than it deserves: the ethical significance of pragmatism. Rosenbaum does an excellent job of relating this moral outlook to issues in education, politics, and contemporary society. This book is a clearly written and well-reasoned defense of pragmatism as a moral philosophy. Highly recommended." - CHOICE

"In the brief autobiographical remarks found in the preface of Stuart Rosenbaum’s Pragmatism and the Reflective Life, we discover that Rosenbaum began his philosophical career in the tradition of analytic philosophy. It is precisely this background in the analytic tradition that gives weight to the powerful criticisms he levels against that tradition as he wends his way through his newfound love, American pragmatism….In sum, Rosenbaum esteems pragmatism’s account of the reflective life for its ecumenical spirit toward the varieties of human experience." - American Journal of Theology and Philosophy

"Pragmatism as a living philosophical tradition has at its very core the demand not to merely contemplate the world, but to reflect upon our modes of relating to it with an eye to doing something about 'it.' It is this complex 'it' of world, reflection, and action that raises for us a hornet’s nest of issues that Stuart Rosenbaum’s book engages. Rosenbaum does not deny that pragmatism, in its various forms, surely gives us theses to ponder. Nevertheless, these theses are developed with a practical and existential intent, even if the working out of such intent remains dependent on conceptual clarity and (re)construction. On Rosenbaum’s conception, pragmatism offers us tools for exercises in self-reflection, engaged attempts to get clear about specific frames, be they conceptual, moral, political, interpersonal, religious, and so forth, and to find ways of living consonant with Emerson’s dictum, which he has taken to heart, that 'character is higher than intellect,' even if we need intellect, rightly conceived so as to avoid the paradigmatic tyranny of abstract knowledge, to build the 'right' kind of character. It is precisely this kind of intellect that Rosenbaum proposes to explore by offering not just theses to ponder but also by employing a method that combines a concern for generality with deep respect for exemplifying instances." - The Pluralist