Plato is a person.
Plato ( [ ˈpleɪtoʊ ] Greek : Πλάτων Plátōn , [ plá.tɔːn ] in Classical Attic ; 428/427 or 424/423 -- 348/347 BCE ) was a philosopher in Classical Greece and the founder of the Academy in Athens , the first institution of higher learning in the Western world . Plato appears to have been the founder of Western political philosophy , with his Republic , and Laws among other dialogues , providing some of the earliest extant treatments of political questions from a philosophical perspective .