ETHICS

The sacrificial meal... has assumed the most varied forms, largely as a result of the secularisation of its ends. We have it, e.g., in the celebration dinner held in joyful remembrance of important family occurrences, or of important public events. We have it, again, in a form peculiar to modern civilization, in the public banquet, where it serves as the material basis for the prosecution of municipal, political or professional interests. -from The Individual Forms of Life