Plato was a Greek philosopher born in Athens who founded the Academy, one of the earliest known institutions of higher learning in the Western world. He was a student of Socrates and believed that knowledge came from rational thought and reasoning rather than from sensory experience. In his work The Republic, Plato outlined his educational philosophy which aimed for the harmonious development of both mind and body. He proposed that education should be controlled by the state and that citizens should be classified and educated based on their abilities. Plato's ideas helped establish philosophy and mathematics as important subjects and influenced Western thought and education systems.