Taylor works mostly on the philosophy of race. He writes on race theory, aesthetics, pragmatism, social and political philosophy, and Africana philosophy.

Taylor’s first book Race: A Philosophical Introduction (2004) explores the concept of race from a metaphysical, pragmatic and analytical point of view. In Black Is Beautiful: A Philosophy of Black Aesthetics (2016) Taylor examines the intersection of African American philosophy and aesthetics.

The term ‘black aesthetics’ refers to “the practice of using art, criticism, or analysis to explore the role that expressive objects and practices play in creating and maintaining black life-worlds” (p.12). He claims that African American culture is “not so much born as assembled”.

His book On Obama (2016), examines the historic election of the first African-American president of the United States of America, Barack Obama. Together with Linda Martín Alcoff and Luvell Anderson he edited the Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Race (2018).