My goal for this paper is twofold. First, I want to point out congruencies between these three thinkers: Emerson, Nietzsche and Musil. Such congruencies are ultimately based on Emerson’s influence on both European thinkers and lead to an account of moral perfectionism based on the figure of “the free spirit” (freier Geist), which appears to play a crucial role in the ethical reflections of all three of them. Secondly, I will focus on the tension between idealism and pragmatism and the way in which it is affecting the ethics of the free spirit.