John J. Preston
Ph.D. Candidate
Contact Information
Address:
100 E Second Street
Unit 403
Cedar Falls, IA. 50613
Phone: 319-240-2834
Email: johnpreston07@gmail.com
Education
2016-2022
2013-2015
2007-2012
University of South Florida
Ph.D. Philosophy
University of New Mexico
M.A. Philosophy
University of Northern Iowa
B.A. Philosophy
PH.D. Dissertation
Title: “Heidegger and the Origin of Authenticity”
Chair: Lee Braver
Internal Committee: Alex Levine, Mor Segev
Committee: Iain Thomson (University of New Mexico)
Since the publication of Sein und Zeit in 1927, scholars have coupled Martin Heidegger’s reflections on authenticity with a rich tradition of thought which reminds us that philosophy can, from time to time, function as a catalyst for self-discovery. While this function is an undeniable feature of Heideggerian authenticity, I would like to suggest that it is secondary to the role that authenticity plays in Heidegger’s philosophical investigations. By analyzing the full phenomena of authenticity and tracing its first technical uses back to Heidegger’s early lectures on Aristotle, I show that Heidegger’s methodological breakthrough in the early 1920s, the development of hermeneutic phenomenology, and the very structure of Being and Time are the result of Heidegger’s appropriation of Aristotle’s philosophical method outlined in his Physics and Nicomachean Ethics. By analyzing these lectures and traditionally ignored uses of authenticity in Being and Time, I develop an account of the methodological sense of authenticity. In comparing this methodological reading to some standard readings, what I call the existential, intentional, and practical readings of authenticity, I show that the problems which arise in these accounts can be addressed by considering the full phenomena of authenticity and its methodological role in Heidegger’s thinking.
M.A. Thesis
Title: “Expanding Ontological Horizons”
Chair: Iain Thomson
Internal Committee: Ann Murphy, Brent Kalar
In “Expanding Ontological Horizons,” I show that Edgar Boedeker provides the means for settling a debate between Hubert Dreyfus and Frederick Olafson concerning the nature of das Man and authenticity in Martin Heidegger's magnum opus, Sein und Zeit. By offering an illustrative account of the structure of Dasein's being which makes use of three major existential horizons, Boedeker is able to make sense of the complicated ways in which Heidegger relates existentials (parts of Dasein's ontological structure) to existentiells (modes of existence). In his haste to solve one problem, however, Boedeker's account creates another. Namely, Boedeker fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between ready-to-hand (Zuhanden) and present-at-hand (Vorhanden) by attributing authenticity to the former, and inauthenticity to the latter. I explain why Boedeker's view is untenable by showing that it is based on failure to distinguish the difference between environment (Umwelt) and worldhood (Weltlichkeit). I then offer an amended picture of Dasein's ontological structure which shows how present-at-hand and ready-to-hand entities each have their own authentic and inauthentic modes. Lastly I show that “worldhood” is the existential horizon of all worldly entities.
Teaching Experience
University of South Florida
Instructor:
19th Century Continental Philosophy [PHI4440] (Fall 19)
Introduction to Philosophy [PHI2010] (Fall 18, Spring 19, Fall 20, Spring 21, Summer 21, Summer 22)
Biomedical Ethics [PHI3633] (Fall 17, Spring 18, Spring 20, Spring 22)
Teaching Assistant:
Introduction to Philosophy [PHI 2010] (Fall 16, Spring 17)
Introduction to Ethics [PHI 1600] (Fall 22)
Biomedical Ethics [PHI 3633] (Fall 21)
Des Moines Area Community College
Instructor:
Introduction to Philosophy [PHI 101] (Spring 16, Fall 21, Spring 22, (2x) Fall 22)
Introduction to Ethics [PHI 105] (Fall 21, Spring 22, Summer 22)
University of New Mexico
Teaching Assistant:
Introduction to Philosophy [PHI 101] (Fall 14)
Awards
University of South Florida
Honorable Mention - Provost's Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Graduate Teaching Assistant (Spring 2021)
ATLE Professional Development Distinction (Spring 2020)
Graduate Assistantship (Fall 16 - Fall 22)
Conference Presentation Grant (Spring 17)
Graduate Student Stipend (Spring 17)
The Heidegger Circle
University of New Mexico
Graduate Student Summer Scholarship (Summer 15)
Grading Assistantship (Fall 14)
University of Northern Iowa
UNI Men’s Glee Club Scholarship for Excellence, Camaraderie, and Tradition (Spring 10)
Service
University of South Florida
Philosophy Graduate Student Organization Annual Conference - Coordinator (Spring 20)
Philosopher In Question Lecture Series (with Dr. Thomas Sheehan) - Coordinator (Fall 18)
Philosophy Graduate Student Organization Annual Conference - Reader (Fall 17-Spring 20)
Philosophy Graduate Student Organization - Vice President (Fall 19-Spring 20)
Philosophy Graduate Student Organization - Liaison (Fall 17-Spring 19)
University of New Mexico
Philosophy Graduate Student Association Annual Conference - Reader (Spring 15)
Philosophy Graduate Student Association - Treasurer (Fall 13-Spring 15)
University of Northern Iowa
Philosophy Club - Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President (Spring 09-Fall 12)
Northern Iowa Student Government - Senator (Fall 11-Spring 12)
Volunteer Tutor (Fall 09 - Spring 12)
Publications
Full Articles
John J. Preston, “Heidegger’s Endoxic Method: Finding Authenticity in Aristotle,” Gatherings: The Heidegger Circle Annual 11 (July 27, 2021): 102–35, https://doi.org/10.5840/gatherings2021118.
Book Reviews
John J. Preston, “Richard Polt: Time and Trauma: Thinking Through Heidegger in the Thirties,” Human Studies 44, no. 4 (2021): 821–27.
John J. Preston, “Robert C. Scharff’s Heidegger Becoming Phenomenological: Interpreting Husserl through Dilthey, 1916–1925,” Gatherings: The Heidegger Circle Annual 10 (July 1, 2020): 262–66, https://doi.org/10.5840/gatherings20201013.
Presentations
Heidegger 54th Annual Meeting | Spokane, WA (Digital) | Panel Moderator “Author Meets Critics: Panel on David Wood’s Reoccupy Earth” | 2021 |
USF In Memoriam Conference for Martin Schönfeld and Charlie Guignon | Tampa, FL (Digital) | Presenter: “On the Several Senses of Eigentlich in Heidegger” | 2021 |
Cornell College Invited Presentation | Mount Vernon, IA (Digital) | Presenter: “The Guiding Question: Authenticity and Method in Early Heidegger” | 2020 |
Philosophy Graduate Student Organization at USF | Tampa, FL (Digital) | Presenter: “Ph.D. Requirements Demystified: A Simple Guide to Graduating on Time” | 2020 |
USF Conference: Urgent Voices in the Anthropocene | Tampa, FL (Digital) | Online Presentation: “Heidegger and the Saving Power of Technology” | 2020 |
Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy | Melbourne, Australia | Paper Accepted: “A Precognitive Account of Harmony Grounded in a Phenomenological Reading of Kant's Theory of Perception” | 2019 |
Philosophy Graduate Student Organization at USF | Tampa, FL | Presenter: “Methodological Roots of Authenticity in Heidegger's Freiburg Lectures” | 2019 |
Philosophy Graduate Student Organization at USF | Tampa, FL | Presenter: “How to Graduate: Navigating New Requirements in 2019 Catalog” | 2019 |
Philosophy Graduate Student Organization at USF | Tampa, FL | Presenter: “Graduating on Time: A Tutorial for 1st year Ph.D Students” | 2018 |
USF Darwin Day | Tampa, FL | Presenter: “The Evolution of Eyes – An Interdisciplinary Presentation for Darwin Day” | 2018 |
Philosophy Graduate Student Organization at USF | Tampa, FL | Presenter: “How to get to Candidacy: Keeping Track of Requirements” | 2017 |
Heidegger Circle 51st Annual Meeting | Walla Walla, WA | Moderator, Commentator, Panelist: “Interpretations of Being and Time” | 2017 |
Vox Peregrini Iceland Pilgrimage | Thórsmörk, Iceland | Presenter: “Mortal Pilgrimage and the Fourfold: Heidegger's Guide to Hiking.” | 2016 |
SDSU Student Conference in Philosophy | San Diego, CA | Presenter: “Indifferenz and the Binary Model of Modes of Being” | 2015 |
M.A. Defense, University of New Mexico | Albuquerque, NM | Presenter: “Finding Authenticity in 'The Origin of the Work of Art'” | 2015 |
UNI Darwin Week Student Leadership Panel | Cedar Falls, IA | Panelist: “Can Faith and Science Coexist?” | 2012 |