According to Socrates and Plato, the most important forms of knowledge come not from instruction, but by a re-awakening of already existing dormant or latent knowledge. This is called anamnesis (an- = un-, amnesis = forgetting, as in amnesia; ).
Anamnesis comes in the form of "aha!" experiences -- insights, moments of unusual clarity, peak experiences, etc.
It involves only certain forms of knowledge: moral (e.g., what is goodness?), existential (e.g., what is the authentic 'me'?), spiritual/metaphysical, and mathematical.
Truths understood by anamnesis, valuable in themselves, also serve as first principles for reasoning about oneself and ones life. Conclusions based on these truths are more certain and correct than those based on false opinion
(see
epoche), which is typically distorted by desires and fears.
Anamnesis, thus, leads to a genuine life, whereas false opinion promotes inauthenticity.
Anamnesis can be elicited by the practice of dialectic.
Example
This scene is a beautiful example of an anamnesis experience. It's from the film, 'Joe vs. the Volcano'. Joe (Tom Hanks) has been stranded on a raft in the ocean for several days...
Reading
In Plato's Meno, Socrates illustrates anamnesis by drawing forth from an uneducated slave boy a complex geometric proof, merely by asking simple questions and relying on the boy's latent knowledge.
