Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words The “Pandemic of Lunacy”: How to Think Clearly When Everyone Around You Seems Crazy, J. Budziszewski
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Mar 12, 2026 
J. Budziszewski, University of Texas moral philosopher and author, outlines his new book on modern delusions. He pinpoints motivated irrationality, how a grain of truth helps false ideas spread, and social media’s role as an amplifier. He also tackles religion’s decline, debates over sex differences, campus pressures, and practical habits for clearer thinking.
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Why People Prefer False Ideas
- Motivated irrationality helps explain why people want false ideas to be true.
- J. Budziszewski explains people adopt relativism because it gives convenient excuses, e.g., to justify cheating or immoral acts.
Grains Of Truth Make Lunacies Plausible
- Every lunacy contains a grain of truth, which liars exploit to make errors plausible.
- Budziszewski uses examples like pleasure vs. happiness and claims about personhood leading to infanticide reasoning.
How One Bad Premise Spawns More Errors
- One false premise often begets others, producing a metastasizing cascade of lunacies.
- He shows how defining personhood by cognitive functions can lead from abortion to arguments for infanticide.
