Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), the well-known philosophical book review site whose production schedule had slowed owing to the death of editor Gary Gutting in 2019, will soon be ramping up its publication of reviews, and will be doing so under a new editor.
Prof. Gary Gutting and Dr. Stacie Gutting created NDPR around 20 years ago. They ran the entire journal as a true labor of love, with advice and help from the NDPR Board, and with help from a part-time editorial assistant. Very much like the SEP, which was created and run by Dr. Ed Zalta, NDPR soon became a prominent part of the philosophical profession — a venue to which all philosophers turn, and one to which many outside of philosophy turn for updates on philosophical work and debate. After Gary Gutting died, Stacie Gutting continued to run the journal with help from a part-time editorial assistant. Eventually, Stacie stepped down, and — after just landing at Notre Dame — I agreed to take on the editorship. I spent the first 6 months learning and, in significant part, making explicit the NDPR system, and then turned towards running the process — only to be hit by the heights of the pandemic, which brought incoming reviews to a standstill, and incoming books from publishers to a trickle, not to mention the havoc the pandemic played in other respects.
At this stage (April 2021), I am very happy to say that NDPR is ready to run at its expected capacity again, as books are now regularly coming in for review, reviewers are able to reliably navigate their deadlines, and the NDPR system itself is well-defined. In addition to working with Notre Dame to update the website so as to accommodate mobile-device viewing, I worked with Dr. Tobias Flattery (Managing Editor), Prof. Jeff Speaks (Head of ND Philosophy), and the ND Arts & Letters Dean to install a more viable longterm staff structure, now involving the Editor, Managing Editor, and an Editorial Assistant. This is still a light staff for such a large production, but it is a viable one that should keep the journal smoothly running for years.
Despite the exciting place at which NDPR now sits, I myself am stepping down from the NDPR editorship to finish a handful of forthcoming books and papers. The very happy news is that Prof. Christopher Shields, the George N. Shuster Professor of Philosophy at Notre Dame, will be taking over as NDPR Editor. The official change will take place in June 2021.
You can check out the current reviews at NDPR here.
Jc Beall, current NDPR editor and O’Neill Family Professor of Philosophy at Notre Dame, will be turning over the editorship to Christopher Shields, the George N. Shuster Professor of Philosophy at Notre Dame, this coming June. Professor Beall sent along the following explanation of the changes:
