Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
Week 3: Chapter III — The Suicide of Thought
Read Chapter III of Orthodoxy: "The Suicide of Thought"
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Chesterton argues that the modern world's great danger is not wild rebellion but a creeping paralysis — a humility so excessive that it doubts not just itself but the very faculty of thought itself.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Chesterton opens by describing modern virtues that have gone mad because they have been separated from each other — truth without pity, pity without truth, humility in the wrong place. What does he mean by "the old Christian virtues gone mad"? Can you think of contemporary examples of a virtue that has broken free of its companions and become destructive?
2.He describes two kinds of humility: the old humility that made a man doubtful about his efforts (a spur), and the new humility that makes him doubtful about his aims (a nail in his boot). What is the practical difference? Which kind do you more often encounter in yourself and in the culture around you?
3.Chesterton says, "There is a thought that stops thought. That is the only thought that ought to be stopped." What is this self-destructive thought, and why does he think it is the ultimate danger — worse even than heresy or rebellion?
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