What do you think?
Rate this book
Pandemic of Lunacy: How to Think Clearly When Everyone Around You Seems Crazy
What is happening to the world? Why does it seem like everyone has gone crazy? Why are so many things that seemingly everyone believed the day before yesterday suddenly held to be retrograde, hateful, or even criminal? And why are things that everyone seemed to view as lunacy the day before yesterday suddenly taught or even required?
In Pandemic of How to Think Clearly When Everyone Around You Seems Crazy, bestselling moral philosopher J. Budziszewski dissects and explodes the crazy—but deadly serious—ideas that have spread, bred, and metastasized throughout contemporary society. Ranging over the topics of morality and happiness, politics and government, family and sexuality, and God and religion, Budziszewski patiently explains the delusions that beset us. And in commonsense language he makes the case for sanity.
Pandemic of Lunacy will be treasured by anyone who is troubled or confused, anyone who wonders whether the world has gone crazy or whether they have, and anyone who feels the need for a trustworthy guide in a topsy-turvy age.
In Pandemic of How to Think Clearly When Everyone Around You Seems Crazy, bestselling moral philosopher J. Budziszewski dissects and explodes the crazy—but deadly serious—ideas that have spread, bred, and metastasized throughout contemporary society. Ranging over the topics of morality and happiness, politics and government, family and sexuality, and God and religion, Budziszewski patiently explains the delusions that beset us. And in commonsense language he makes the case for sanity.
Pandemic of Lunacy will be treasured by anyone who is troubled or confused, anyone who wonders whether the world has gone crazy or whether they have, and anyone who feels the need for a trustworthy guide in a topsy-turvy age.
248 pages, Hardcover
Published February 3, 2026
5 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
J. Budziszewski
30 books67 followersJ. Budziszewski (born 1952) is professor of government at the University of Texas, Austin, where he has taught since 1981. He specializes in ethics, political philosophy and the interaction of these two fields with religion and theology.
Budziszewski has written widely, in both scholarly and popular venues, about a variety of moral and political issues including abortion, marriage, sexuality, capital punishment, and the role of judges in a constitutional republic. His principal area of publication is the theory of natural law.
Apart from his scholarly philosophical work, Budziszewski is known for articles and books of Christian apologetics, addressed to a broad audience including young people and college students.
Ph.D., Political Science, Yale University, 1981.
M.A., Political Science, University of Florida, 1977.
B.A., Political Science, University of South Florida, 1975.
2002-present: Professor, Departments of Government and Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin.
1995-2002: Associate Professor, Departments of Government and Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin.
1988-1995: Associate Professor, Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin.
1981-1988: Assistant Professor, Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin.
1980-1981: Acting Instructor, Departments of Political Science, Yale University.
Budziszewski has written widely, in both scholarly and popular venues, about a variety of moral and political issues including abortion, marriage, sexuality, capital punishment, and the role of judges in a constitutional republic. His principal area of publication is the theory of natural law.
Apart from his scholarly philosophical work, Budziszewski is known for articles and books of Christian apologetics, addressed to a broad audience including young people and college students.
Ph.D., Political Science, Yale University, 1981.
M.A., Political Science, University of Florida, 1977.
B.A., Political Science, University of South Florida, 1975.
2002-present: Professor, Departments of Government and Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin.
1995-2002: Associate Professor, Departments of Government and Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin.
1988-1995: Associate Professor, Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin.
1981-1988: Assistant Professor, Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin.
1980-1981: Acting Instructor, Departments of Political Science, Yale University.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 8, 2026
Finally, An Explanation for Why the World Has Gone Mad (And How to Keep Your Sanity)
If you have looked at the news, your workplace, or our culture recently and asked yourself, "Am I the one who is crazy, or has the world lost its mind?" - this book is the answer you have been waiting for.
I recently had the privilege of interviewing Professor J. Budziszewski (a Yale PhD and Professor of Government and Philosophy at UT Austin) for The Mentors Radio, and our conversation confirmed what I suspected: We are not merely suffering from political polarization. We are living through a "Pandemic of Lunacy."
In this brilliant, accessible, and urgently needed book, Budziszewski diagnoses the root cause of our cultural chaos. He argues that we are being gaslit on a global scale - told that biological facts are "opinions," that logic is "hate," and that common sense is a form of bigotry. But unlike other books that simply complain about "wokeness" or political divides, Pandemic of Lunacy explains why this is happening. And the answer is profound.
The "Revenge of Conscience" Budziszewski’s most powerful insight is that people do not embrace these delusions because they are stupid; they embrace them because they are guilty. He introduces the concept of "Guilty Knowledge" or the "Revenge of Conscience."
He argues that deep down, every human being knows the basics of the Moral Law (what he calls "What We Can't Not Know"). When we violate that law, we have two choices: Repent or Rationalize. Because repentance is painful, our culture has chosen to rationalize. But suppressing the conscience is "exhausting labor." To keep the guilt at bay, we must invent increasingly wild delusions and demand that everyone else applaud them. This explains the anger and the authoritarianism we see today - it is the desperate attempt to silence the "furies" of a guilty conscience.
The Father Wound One of the most moving sections of the book (and our discussion) is the connection between the breakdown of the family and the breakdown of reality. Budziszewski - himself a former radical atheist - suggests that the rejection of God is often not an intellectual problem, but a relational one. It is a "Father Wound." When the earthly father is absent or untrustworthy, it becomes nearly impossible to trust the Heavenly Father. We try to invent our own "reality" because we cannot trust the One who created the actual reality.
A Guide for the Perplexed Budziszewski walks the reader through 30 specific "Lunacies" - from the delusion that "Men and women don't need each other" to the idea that "My truth" can replace The Truth. He dismantles them not with anger, but with the calm, surgical precision of a philosopher who loves the people he is correcting.
He reminds us that every lie contains a "grain of truth," which is why good people fall for them. He teaches us how to spot that grain, separate it from the poison, and return to sanity.
The Verdict This book is a survival guide. It will validate your sanity. It will arm you with the arguments you need to stand your ground. But most importantly, it offers hope. Budziszewski reminds us that we cannot break reality; we can only break ourselves against it. Eventually, the fever will break. Until then, this book is the medicine we need to stay healthy.
If you want to stop the self-deception, heal the culture, and find "Purpose with a capital P," buy this book. Read it. Then give it to a friend who needs to know they aren't crazy.
If you have looked at the news, your workplace, or our culture recently and asked yourself, "Am I the one who is crazy, or has the world lost its mind?" - this book is the answer you have been waiting for.
I recently had the privilege of interviewing Professor J. Budziszewski (a Yale PhD and Professor of Government and Philosophy at UT Austin) for The Mentors Radio, and our conversation confirmed what I suspected: We are not merely suffering from political polarization. We are living through a "Pandemic of Lunacy."
In this brilliant, accessible, and urgently needed book, Budziszewski diagnoses the root cause of our cultural chaos. He argues that we are being gaslit on a global scale - told that biological facts are "opinions," that logic is "hate," and that common sense is a form of bigotry. But unlike other books that simply complain about "wokeness" or political divides, Pandemic of Lunacy explains why this is happening. And the answer is profound.
The "Revenge of Conscience" Budziszewski’s most powerful insight is that people do not embrace these delusions because they are stupid; they embrace them because they are guilty. He introduces the concept of "Guilty Knowledge" or the "Revenge of Conscience."
He argues that deep down, every human being knows the basics of the Moral Law (what he calls "What We Can't Not Know"). When we violate that law, we have two choices: Repent or Rationalize. Because repentance is painful, our culture has chosen to rationalize. But suppressing the conscience is "exhausting labor." To keep the guilt at bay, we must invent increasingly wild delusions and demand that everyone else applaud them. This explains the anger and the authoritarianism we see today - it is the desperate attempt to silence the "furies" of a guilty conscience.
The Father Wound One of the most moving sections of the book (and our discussion) is the connection between the breakdown of the family and the breakdown of reality. Budziszewski - himself a former radical atheist - suggests that the rejection of God is often not an intellectual problem, but a relational one. It is a "Father Wound." When the earthly father is absent or untrustworthy, it becomes nearly impossible to trust the Heavenly Father. We try to invent our own "reality" because we cannot trust the One who created the actual reality.
A Guide for the Perplexed Budziszewski walks the reader through 30 specific "Lunacies" - from the delusion that "Men and women don't need each other" to the idea that "My truth" can replace The Truth. He dismantles them not with anger, but with the calm, surgical precision of a philosopher who loves the people he is correcting.
He reminds us that every lie contains a "grain of truth," which is why good people fall for them. He teaches us how to spot that grain, separate it from the poison, and return to sanity.
The Verdict This book is a survival guide. It will validate your sanity. It will arm you with the arguments you need to stand your ground. But most importantly, it offers hope. Budziszewski reminds us that we cannot break reality; we can only break ourselves against it. Eventually, the fever will break. Until then, this book is the medicine we need to stay healthy.
If you want to stop the self-deception, heal the culture, and find "Purpose with a capital P," buy this book. Read it. Then give it to a friend who needs to know they aren't crazy.
Displaying 1 of 1 review