Heretics

Heretics is a collection of 20 essays originally published by G.K. Chesterton in 1905.

Chapters

Introductory Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy
On the Negative Spirit
On Mr. Rudyard Kipling and Making the World Small
Mr. Bernard Shaw
Mr. H. G. Wells and the Giants
Christmas and the Esthetes
Omar and the Sacred Vine
The Mildness of the Yellow Press
The Moods of Mr. George Moore
On Sandals and Simplicity
Science and the Savages
Paganism and Mr. Lowes Dickinson
Celts and Celtophiles
On Certain Modern Writers and the Institution of the Family
On Smart Novelists and the Smart Set
On Mr. McCabe and a Divine Frivolity
On the Wit of Whistler
The Fallacy of the Young Nation
Slum Novelists and the Slums
Concluding Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy



In his first essay, Chesterton describes his understanding of the words Orthodox and Heretic as they apply to, and have changed in, the modern period. Chesterton argues that in modernity, "The word 'orthodoxy' not only no longer means being right; it practically means being wrong". He continues to write that society no longer tolerates a man’s life philosophy or religion, yet is increasingly absorbed in "art for art’s sake". Chesterton identifies this trend to replace ideological substance with vagueness and criticizes popular writers, public figures, politicians, and the like for proclaiming a gospel of silence when moral and philosophical direction is needed.