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This article deals with the widely accepted notion that the universal values and norms canserve as a „common denominator‟ for the different religions, thus providing a platform for arranging the inter-religious relations in a non-conflictual manner. More specifically three philosophical paradigms of uniyersa∣ism are being commented - abstract (liberal) universalism, „essentialist‟ universalism (in the Hegelian tradition), and formalist (Kantian-type) universalism. The author offers arguments in favour and against each of the three options, siding, in the last account with the formalist one and interpreting in its light the contemporary philosophical approaches to this issue of J. Rawls and J. Habermas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]