Hegel's decisive step in the theory of freedom lies in the insight that freedom is not a state, but a process: the process of liberation. The realm of freedom does not exist; freedom only exists in its becoming. Hegel substantiates this thesis through a critical theory of society that unfolds its internal contradiction: he shows that freedom only exists in social participation, while at the same time a "second nature" forms in the social world that stifles freedom. In the development of this thesis, Christoph Menke's brilliant studies read Hegel not as a completer, but as a discoverer of problems that continue to preoccupy philosophy to this day.