Who first said “ontology precedes epistemology”?

William and Wanda wonder…

William: Who first said, “ontology precedes epistemology”?

Wanda: Heidegger or someone like that?

William: I can’t find anyone to positively quote as the original source.

Wanda: I was looking up “There’s no such thing as a free lunch” recently. Seems to come from the 1930s but no clear source. Proverbs create the same confusion. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Can’t attribute that.

William: Some proverbs can be sourced though. “The pen is mightier than the sword." Edward Bulwer Lytton.

Wanda: And then there are those maxims that are inspirational. “Change is the only constant.” Non-attributable I’m sure.

William: Actually, that seems to have been Heraclitus. Somebody might have said it even before him. But these days there are source police who watch out for misattributions. Reza Aslan got flagged for quoting a story as being from Buddha. “If you want to draw water you do not dig six one-foot wells. You dig one six-foot well.” Apparently it wasn't.

__________

Voice-over

In the age of plagiarism police, protect yourself…

Three possibilities for sources are:

• attribution
• no attribution
• wrong attribution

...

Making merit

George offers flowers to the monk.

...

Monk: Blessed be your family.

George: They are the best orchids.

Monk: They are nice orchids.

George: I grew them myself.

Monk: That is creditable. But money would be...

George: Are orchids an unworthy offering?

Monk: Orchids cannot be eaten and these cannot be sold. I am sorry, there is no merit in decoration.

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Voiceover

For Thais, making merit is summarized as, “if you do good you will receive good; if you do evil you will receive evil.” George doesn’t quite understand that what would be more appropriate would be alms or food, the monk seems a little more direct in his explanation than most. His double negative “cannot be eaten” and “cannot be sold” capture the dilemma neatly, but when he says, “I am sorry” it is more of a rejection of George’s offering than an apology.

...