Authenticity is something most every individual strives for. Individuals want to be known as unique and different than our peers. Society puts a large emphasize on being able to define who an individual is and what their life means to them. Children are told to “follow the hearts” and “look within” to discover who they are. This is the topic of The Ethics of Authenticity the author, Charles Taylor, writes about he thinks about modern society’s view of authenticity. In the first part of the passage, Taylor begins by pointing out how modern society believe individual’s morality came from. He explains that modern society believes that morality it is rooted in our emotions and is found within ourselves (Tylor 50). Taylor claims that this morality…show more content… Taylor states that when trying to reason on any moral matter it is impossible to be reasoning only from within because a person is in constant dialogue with others (52). This means a person is always comparing what is moral with what others believe to be moral. A person does not start reasoning with themselves from nothing but rather from where others people’s morality begins (53). When a person reasons they are not only listening to their own voice but they are also reasoning with all the individuals that affect their lives. These individuals affect lives by teaching others the very language a person needs to outwardly define themselves (53).…show more content… He says that people need others to fulfill portions of their life, but not be wholly defined by them (54). When he says this, he is talking about how once we are old enough to reason and to reason with others, we need to start critically thinking about what is moral and what we do believe for ourselves. He explains further that even though people are not wholly defined by them, they still play a large role in the creation of a person’s identity and how a person comes to reason and to think of themselves. This means that a person should attempt to reason in such a way that they are not clones of those around them. Taylor also points out that even once people grasp the fact that we always are reasoning morally with others, people tend to lose sight of just how important other individuals are when trying to find one’s identity (54). Taylor explains that a person’s identity does not only consist of themselves but also of those important in their life (54). He used an example that if a person’s passion in life always involves another person completing that thing with them, then that other person becomes a part of their identity (54). For example, if a person’s passion is ballroom dancing and the person’s dance partner has always been their neighbor, then their neighbor has becomes essential in