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The Stalagmite Episode 

The Poem: “Shine, Perishing Republic,” by Robinson Jeffers 

Statement of the Whole: Well, we have been working up to it for the last couple of episodes, and here it finally is: one of the most famous analogies of all time.  Plato presents to us a detailed picture of a cave and how it relates to truth, life, education, and really almost everything.  Jason and Steve have fun in the dark, and then the blinding light.  Come spelunking with us! 

1. The Cave, presented in simplicity 

What does it mean? 

How does all this come into the classroom?

• Less about pedagogy and method and more about what is happening in the soul of the teacher
• Truth is way more powerful than any given teacher, classroom, method, etc. – so rest in its power

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Poem: “Staring at the Sun” by U2 

Summer stretching on the grass 
Summer dresses pass 
In the shade of a willow tree 
Creeps a crawling over me 
Over me and over you 
Stuck together with God’s glue 
It’s going to get stickier too 
It’s been a long hot summer 
Let’s get undercover 
Don’t try too hard to think 
Don’t think at all 
I’m not the only one 
Starin’ at the sun 
Afraid of what you’d find 
If you took a look inside 
Not just deaf and dumb 
Staring at the sun 
Not the only one 
Who’s happy to go blind 

Statement of the Whole: Plato believed in real truth, truth more real than the physical world.  If truth supersedes the senses, how can we pursue it, find it, and obtain it?  Steve and Jason spend time with the first two analogies Plato gives us to understand truth through, the pictures of the Sun and the Divided Line.  We hope we are not the only ones staring at the Sun… 

What are the three analogies Plato gives us to help us “see the truth”? 

• The Sun (Source) 

• The Divided Line (Source) 

And next episode…the famous Cave Analogy!