The Dangers of Objectification

Consider for a moment the course typically taken in a class discussion. A person states that he is an egoist, or a relativist, or an absolutist. These various terms are used to classify an individual according to his moral philosophy. Nietzsche has an important objection to these simplistic definitions. "Shall we still speak this way today? May we do so?" (Nietzsche 463) There are difficulties in this simplistic approach to classifying an individual. The first is …

…possibility of becoming that is so essential to humanity. "Ismism," the scheme of defining a person in terms of an "ism," is a misguided mental shortcut that becomes more dangerous the more completely it is done. References King, Stephen. The Dead Zone. Signet: New York, 1980. MacKinnon, Barbara, ed. "Egoism." Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues, Second Edition. Belmont: Wadsworth, 1998. Nietzsche, Frederich. Twilight of the Idols in The Portable Nietzsche. Ed. Walter Kaufmann. Viking Press: New York, 1954.