Another word for trial and error?

Not exactly the same thing but as close as I can get. I believe the term I'm looking for is most relevant in an epistemological context. I believe it was Plato whom claimed that the only way of truly gaining knowledge was by __________. "

Blank being something along the lines of trying and ruling out the non-solutions. Disproving them until you got the right one. It might even be a theory.

Errr....it's frustrating. It's just off the tip of my tongue. The clues i've got might not help much.
 
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