Sentence:  In much the same way , we recognize the importance of Shakespeare 's familarity with Plutarch and Montaigne , of Shelley 's study of Plato 's dialogues , and of Coleridge 's enthusiastic plundering of the writings of many <WSD>philosophers</WSD> and theologians from Plato to Schelling and William Godwin , through which so many abstract ideas were brought to the attention of English men of letters . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a specialist in philosophy