In the increasingly urgent debate about the conditions of democracy, the theme of recognition of individual and collective demands stands out. In the search for a consistent evaluation of this theme the work of Charles Taylor appears as an important marker. One of the central concerns in the Canadian philosopher's thinking is to construct a methodology capable of highlighting the formation and evolution of the identity problem, without which the discourse on democracy and political participation itself remains in the abstract domain, addicted to multiple assumptions not examined. The supposed "emancipation of the individual" in relation to society, whether celebrated or deplored, is for Taylor a simplistic view. His work is based on the thesis that the "expressivist revolution" has led to the moral horizon of discourse the question of the struggle for recognition. The first objective of this article is to contextualize and clarify Taylor's philosophical project, taking as its central axis the way he offered an understanding of the identity problem. From there, it is intended to show how the ethics of authenticity, articulated to the theme of identity, is based on the need for recognition. Finally, an interpretive return will be made to his first texts dealing with the work of Hegel in order to demonstrate the vitality of Hegelian thought in the domain of contemporary ethical life. Taylor problematizes Hegel's thinking in a unique way and gives originality to his thinking, putting him in dialogue with other theorists about the public sphere and the theories of justice. According to the Taylorian interpretation, what happened was that the two Enlightenment tendencies identified by Hegel - utilitarian social atomism and the drive for absolute freedom through the realization of the general will - continued to shape the development of modern society. Both trends continue to impact our societies on the most varied forms of egalitarianism and radical individualism.
