  McTaggart’s version of ontological idealism was inspired by his reading of Hegel. In one of his earlier writings, “The Further Determination of the Absolute” (reprinted in his Philosophical Studies), McTaggart tells us that Hegel’s view of the absolute spirit is that it is made of finite individuals, each of which is individuated by how it is related to the others, and each of which perceives that every other self is of the same nature as itself.