ABSTRACT
In the Laws Plato introduces the novelty of affixing preambles to many of the laws which he there lays down and of composing a preamble to the legal code as a whole. The preambles are intended by Plato as devices by which the legislator seeks to ensure that the laws, which are general rules, are correctly applied to individual cases. Thus laws with preambles are a more suitable expression of the legislator's knowledge than laws alone. The feature of the preambles which enables them to perform this function of making the laws more flexible is their rhetorical and persuasive character. The technê of rhetoric, according to the Phaedrus, is, as a form of knowledge, both systematic and practical. Plato saw that a scientific rhetoric of this kind would be an effective instrument of government. After determining whether the soul is simple or multiform, to show its nature, one must investigate its actions and reactions.
