Group of soldiers taking philosopher forward (7)
I believe the answer is:
platoon
'group of soldiers' is the definition.
(type of military subdivision)
'philosopher forward' is the wordplay.
'philosopher' becomes 'plato' (Plato is an example).
'forward' becomes 'on'.
'plato'+'on'='PLATOON'
'taking' is the link.
(Other definitions for platoon that I've seen before include "Military squad" , "Group under lieutenant" , "Subdivision of a company" , "detail" , "Military group" .)