Hospitality: Possible or impossible?

Abstract

Abstract This article explores two main philosophical approaches to the relationship between hospitality and hostility. First, the hermeneutic approach, inspired by Paul Ricoeur, committed to a paradigm of reciprocal exchange between host and guest. Second, the deconstructive approach following Derrida, which endorses an asymmetrical rupture between host and guest. In the second part of the article the author applies these respective models to critical readings of hospitality in the Greek and Biblical traditions and in some contemporary political examples.