The Sorting Hat determines what the inner qualities of each student are and then decides the Hogwarts House they will go into. Why does this need to be done, though? I titled this question this way for a reason. I'm not asking why they are divided into houses because that makes sense and it's normal (not necessarily into Houses, but into different groups for administration purposes).
Why is there a system in place that determines the qualities of a person and then divides them as if human characteristics can never change? The Sorting Hat seems to be the starting point for a messed up magical world.
Answer
Adam V has already mentioned the four founders wanting to have a way to select students who were eponymous with each founder's desired traits and skills in their students. If I'm to take your question literally, though -- why is the object used to sort the Hogwarts students a hat, instead of, say, a magical ruff, a pair of shoes, or a cravat? -- then I can offer this information from J.K. Rowling:
J.K. Rowling: The Sorting Hat does not appear in my earliest plans for Hogwarts. I debated several different methods for sorting students (because I knew from early on that there would be four houses, all with very different qualities). The first was an elaborate, Heath Robinson-ish machine that did all kinds of magical things before reaching a decision, but I did not like it: it felt at once too complicated, and too easy. Next I placed four statues of the four founders in the Entrance Hall, which came alive and selected students from the throng in front of them while the school watched. This was better, but still not quite right. Finally, I wrote a list of the ways in which people can be chosen: eeny meeny miny mo, short straws, chosen by team captains, names out of a hat - names out of a talking hat - putting on a hat - the Sorting Hat. POTTERMORE LINK - THE SORTING HAT - BOOK 1, CHAPTER 7 or SCREENSHOT.
Also, according to J.K. Rowling, the Sorting Hat is a Legilimens (screenshot); however, it does not possess human emotions per se. Were a human to be the one to sort the students, he/she might harbor subconscious prejudices that could lead to an incorrect sorting. The Sorting Hat is not human; it does not necessarily think like a human. It is the closest, I think, Hogwarts can get to a truly neutral party for sorting.
The exception to the "no emotions" rule, I think, can be found in Order of the Phoenix:
Have the houses been united
As they once were meant to be.
And now the Sorting Hat is here
And you all know the score:
I sort you into houses
Because that is what I’m for,
But this year I’ll go further,
Listen closely to my song:
Though condemned I am to split you
Still I worry that it’s wrong,
Though I must fulfil my duty
And must quarter every year
Still I wonder whether Sorting
May not bring the end I fear.
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,
The warning history shows,
For our Hogwarts is in danger
From external, deadly foes
And we must unite inside her
Or we’ll crumble from within
I have told you, I have warned you ...
Let the Sorting now begin.Order of the Phoenix - pages 186-187 - Bloomsbury - chapter 11, The Sorting Hat's New Song
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