He Predicted Our Current Moral Decline - A Hundred Years Ago Chesterton's compilation of essays in Heretics discusses the difference in Orthodoxy and Heretics, rational vs. irrational, and denial vs. affirmation. He questions the reason for the existence of man and the universe and calls out many prominent figures in the artistic and literary fields for their unorthodox ideas; thus labeling them heretics. He will have you thinking of favorite authors like Rudyard Kipling, Oscar Wilde, and H.G. Wells in a new light, challenging their ideals and morals. 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"". Get Your Copy Now.