# Nietzsche — Orthodoxy character guide

> Nietzsche in Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Friedrich Nietzsche

**First appearance:** 0004-ii-the-maniac

## Snapshot

The philosopher of the overman whom the narrator accuses of being a timid poet in disguise, dodging hard ideas with pretty metaphors.

## Who they are

He is the book's chief intellectual foil, the bold thinker everyone praises whom the narrator insists is not bold at all. The charge is specific: Nietzsche says 'beyond good and evil' because he lacks the nerve to say 'more good than good and evil,' and 'overman' because 'purer man' would commit him to an idea. He matters because dismantling this supposed strength lets the narrator argue that modern thought, for all its swagger, is afraid of its own conclusions.

## In the story

### [The Suicide of Thought](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orthodoxy_se/chapters/iii-the-suicide-of-thought)

Referenced as the source of the philosophy of Will and egoism, which Chesterton critiques.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orthodoxy_se/characters/nietzsche
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orthodoxy_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orthodoxy_se/characters