Freedom-Philosophy and Monism 169Therefore, in the realm of truly ethical action, monism
is afreedom philosophy. As a philosophy of reality, mo-
nism rejects metaphysical, unreal restrictions on the free
spirit—just as it recognizes the physical and historical
(naive realistic) restrictions on the naive person. Because
monism does not regard human beings as finished prod-
ucts who reveal their full being at every moment of life, it
views as inconsequential the argument over whether a hu-
man being as such is or is not free. Monism sees an evolv-
ing essence in humans and asks whether, on this path of
evolution, the stage of the free spirit can be attained.
Monism knows that nature does not release human be-
ings from her arms as ready-made free spirits, but leads
them to a certain stage. From this, as still unfree beings,
they must develop themselves further, to the point where
they discover themselves.
Monism understands that a being acting under physical
or moral compulsion cannot be truly ethical. It considers
the passage through automatic actions (following natural
drives and instincts) and the passage through obedient ac-
tion (following ethical norms) as necessary preliminary
stages in morality, but it also understands the possibility of
overcoming both transitional stages through the free spirit.
Monism liberates a truly moral world view both from the
inward fetters of naive ethical maxims and from the out-
ward ethical maxims of speculative metaphysicians. Mo-
nism cannot eliminate these naive ethical maxims, just as
it cannot eliminate the percept. But it rejects the outward
maxims of speculative metaphysicians because it seeks
within the world, not outside it, all explanatory principles