Platonic epistemology is the belief that knowledge is innate, the development (often under the midwife-like guidance of an interrogator) of ideas buried deep in the soul.

Plato drew a sharp distinction between knowledge, which is certain, and mere opinion. Opinions derive from the shifting world of sensation -- knowledge derives from the world of timeless Forms, or essences.

In his best-known dialogue, The Republic, Plato drew an analogy between human sensation and the shadows that pass along the wall of a cave. Mere opinion is the viewing of those shadows by prisoners in the cave, whereas knowledge is an escape from the cave, into the world of the sun and real objects.

That world is composed of Platonic ideas that are imperfectly perceived. Through philosophical inquiry it was possible to look more closely at the ideal forms, and doing so indicates further correct methods of inquiry and conduct.