內容摘要：本文乃是審視在（激進）宗教與社會異質性——在這種異質性之中不存在共同語言——的脈絡下，跨文化對話所必然遭遇的界限。本文討論瞭解文化他者的兩種模式：第一，高達美的視域融合；第二，呂格爾的文化好客性的概念。透過泰勒所謂的「瞭解他者本身」觀念之批判性分析，顯示視域融合的典範要能夠促進跨文化對話，其先決條件是不同文化之間的差異不是太大。不過，在文化異質的脈絡裡，這種典範有其侷限，原因在於少了可以完整翻譯各個文化所有觀念、習俗和敏感性的共同語言。因此，呂格爾把瞭解文化他者比喻為學習另一種語言，用這個角度來面對在理解他者時所遇到的機會和侷限，確實是一大進步，因為他一方面強調了文化好客性的價值，同時也考量到了在不同的文化之間，總有些東西是無法翻譯的。本文的結論是，跨文化對話儘管免不了要面對人類及其必然的侷限，對文化他者的溝通和理解卻仍然是必要的，因為人類唯有透過他者，才能瞭解自己。

This paper examines the inescapable boundaries of intercultural dialogue in a context of (radical) religious and societal heterogeneity, in which there is no common language. The paper discusses two models of understanding the cultural other: first, Gadamer’s idea of a fusion of horizons, and second, Ricoeur’s idea of cultural hospitality. Through a critical analysis of Taylor’s ideas of understanding the other in her own right, it is shown that the paradigm of a fusion of horizons is only effective for intercultural dialogue as long as the differences between various cultures are not too big. However, this paradigm reaches its boundaries in a context of cultural heterogeneity, because there is no “Esperanto”, i.e. a common language, in which all the ideas, practices and sensitivities of all cultures could be translated without loss. Therefore, Ricoeur’s idea to approach the opportunities and boundaries of understanding the cultural other by comparing it with learning a different language is a major step forward, since he stresses the value of cultural hospitality, while at the same time doing justice to the idea that there will always be something untranslatable. The conclusion will be that, although intercultural dialogue confronts humans with inescapable boundaries, communication with and understanding of the cultural other are nevertheless essential, since humans can only understand themselves through the other.