MELDING THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPHERES - TAKING COMMENSALITY SERIOUSLY

Tibor Scitovsky's The Joyless Economy distinguished the pleasure of mo ving from discomfort to comfort and the pleasure of replacing boredom with stimulation. I have argued that there are also pleasures distinct ive to participating in public life. A third form of pleasure berlongs to both the private and tile public domain: the common meal leads to individual satiation and, as a result of commensality, has important s ocial and public effects. A good example is the banquet in ancient Gre ece, closely connected to the lottery-tile basic mechanism of Athenian democracy. Brit tile common meal can also lead to the degradation of human relations and political life.