Sophist

Plato, an Athenian philosopher from the Classical period, is renowned for founding the Platonist school and the Academy, the first higher learning institution in the Western world. His contributions to philosophy have made him a pivotal figure alongside Socrates and Aristotle. Considered a foundational thinker in Western religion and spirituality, his ideas significantly influenced later philosophers, particularly the neoplatonists, who shaped Christian thought through figures like Augustine.