Pictures from Plato: The Sun & The Divided Line

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”? 

And next episode…the famous Cave Analogy!