A thought experiment
At the very entrance into Philosophy, we may set aside the question of its definition and the demand that it be determined as closely as possible. It is far more important for us, at the outset, to feel the being of Philosophy ourselves. In other words, here it is more precious for us to produce a thought experience which – as we believe – may be regarded as philosophical, as an experience that introduces us into the world of philosophical thoughts, philosophical questions, the philosophical mode of bearing of consciousness, and the very spirit of philosophy.
If we succeed in producing such an experience at once, that is, if we pass through it at once, we shall be in a position to confront more meaningfully the demand that the nature of philosophy be more clearly determined or more precisely defined.
Let us imagine that we are in an airplane, some 10,000 metres above the Earth’s surface. And let us imagine that this airplane is capable of moving at a speed of 1,000 kilometres per hour. And let us imagine that this airplane is made of a material that is “indifferent” to exceptionally high temperatures and that, owing to this exceptional performance, it is ready to set out, to move towards the surface of the Sun.
I hope that we all understand well the starting conditions of this purely thought experiment. If that is indeed the case, and I must assume that it is, let us pose the following question: how long would that flight last? How much time would such a “hypothetical” airplane need to reach the surface of the Sun, if it were to “set out on its journey” now? I suggest that you immediately call upon ChatGPT or some other AI client for help. Calculating the answer will take less time and be considerably more precise.
The answer provided by AI Gemini looks like this: “That flight would last 17 years and 24 days. This calculation is based on the average distance of the Earth from the Sun.”
“Detailed calculation of the journey –
Average distance: 149,600,000 km
Airplane speed: 1,000 km/h
Total time: 149,600 hours
Duration in days: 6,233 days.”
Please open your ears wide: this flight would last a full 17 years! 6,233 days and 6,233 nights spent in uninterrupted movement, at a speed that takes one’s breath away! Can we imagine the Space that would be “traversed” in such a flight!? Can we imagine the actual distance of the Earth from the Sun!?
If, during this thought experiment, you were struck by the “Vertigo effect,” then you have carried out the thought experiment in a perfect manner!
And that is the meaning of almost all philosophical endeavours! To produce such thought experiences as, in an intensely stirring way, open our eyes to Truths that we overlook, neglect, do not know, do not understand, do not wish to hear.
Philosophy, in all periods of its development, represents the expression of a distinctive struggle of the human spirit, the expression of an endeavour to attain a truer view of the World. This struggle unfolds even today, in each one of us. Somewhere it merely smoulders, somewhere it is hopelessly dormant, but in the spirits of certain people (in the souls of true philosophers) it blazes with undiminished and unaltered ardour, just as it did that first time when human consciousness became astonished. Philosophy is at once a thoughtful, spiritual, and experiential activity through which the Human Being awakens from drowsiness in the darkness of the self-evident, through which he emerges from the medium of insensibility, freeing himself from the shackles of untruth. Let that, for the present occasion, be our definition of philosophy.