Nietzsche: philosophizing without categorizingHow to philosophize without “isms”? For although defining a person in terms of Ism is dangerous - both because it encourages the individual's identification with the doctrine and because it denies him the possibility of becoming whose, as human, he is the heir - grouping people according to a doctrine they subscribe to is a convenient mental shortcut. Although grouping people into verbal boxes carries the danger of ending up viewing all boxes as equal, or similar enough to make no difference, the need to see the totality of a single human being is impossible. And although the qualities of my existence, or of someone else's existence (an individual's being), are constantly subject to a process, both conscious and unconscious, of re-evaluation and change , the change is usually not large enough over short periods of time to qualify as noticeable. . It's practical to be able to look at someone and say, "This person has these qualities," so you know how to interact with that person, how to value them, and how that person values ​​themselves and relates to the world. -in short, what it is. To assert that a person is something is misleading, because even as we speak, that person is changing; even saying that an individual possesses certain qualities is a mistake, because as that individual's process of becoming unfolds, the qualities he possesses also change. How, then, can we relate to anyone? How can we tell people apart? Friedrich Nietzsche offers an answer to these problems. In Beyond Good and Evil, one of his attempts to summarize his thoughts - indeed, throughout his philosophical work, as far as I know, Nietzsche describes...... middle of paper.. ....d from a Buddhist koan, intended to break the hold of logic on the mind. However, rather than breaking the hold of logic on the mind, Nietzsche, with his mocking remarks, his boastful writing style, his contradictions and his secrecy, intends to break the hold of "masks." or socially determined isms about perceptions. of the new philosopher who will rise the day after tomorrow. Nietzsche shows us how to philosophize without isms. The only question that remains is whether we are strong enough to follow his advice.ReferencesKaufmann, Walter. Notes on Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil. New York: Vintage, 1966. Nietzsche, Friederich. Beyond Good and Evil. Trans. Walter Kaufmann. New York: Vintage, 1966. Nietzsche, Friederich. Thus spoke Zarathustra in The Portable Nietzsche. Ed. and Trans. Walter Kaufmann. New York: Vikings, 1954.