The author dwells on the concept of hospitality which has been replaced in our era by that of tolerance. The author introduces us to contemporary attitudes to the latter and points to its problematic nature, the counterpoint to which is the former. A description of changes in the understanding of hospitality is provided, ranging from antiquity, via the Englightenment, to modern times, with references to Kant and Derrida. Besides this, he compares the differences and similarities between the concepts of tolerance and hospitality, suggesting that it is the latter which is useful when describing a globalised and cosmopolitical world, as well as positing that the concept of hospitality can be translated into the practices of human life.