Heidegger thought about pickles deeply and developed his philosophy from them. Before the pickle existed, the cucumber existed, as did the brine and spices needed to turn the cucumber into a pickle. So the essence of the pickle preceded the existence of the pickle. This was Heidegger’s Sauregurkenprinzip, or “pickle principle,” which was expounded in Being and Time (1927). So now you know where “essence precedes existence” comes from (which we all used to say in the 60’s, even if we didn’t understand it).

¶ 7:54 PM