The aim of this paper is to study identity in French contemporary philosophy through the work of the philosopher Vincent Descombes. Descombes presents an analytical approach that is based on the theory of use of language and on social philosophy to study ethical, political, and social issues including identity. He conducted several studies regarding this issue including: Les embarras de l'identite, in which he distinguishes between old and modern uses and between personal and social identity that is based on expressive identity.