John O'Loughlin first got the idea of writing a number of philosophical dialogues in 1978 from reading the French philosopher Diderot, one of the masters of the genre, and the results, several weeks later, were four fairly lengthy philosophical dialogues, which enabled him to continue developing the dualistic theories of his earlier excursions into philosophy. The six essays also included in this composite project, originally dating from the following year, signify a transitional stage away from the dualism of the dialogues towards the Spenglerian historicism that, with the quasi-Marxist influence of environment upon the rise and fall of civilizations, was to characterize Mr O'Loughlin's literary work at around this stage in his intellectual development, thereby influencing his choice of title. - A Centretruths editorial
About the Author: John O'Loughlin was born in Galway City, County Galway, the Republic of Ireland, of Irish- and British-born parents in 1952. Following a parental split while still a child, he was brought to England by his mother and grandmother (who had initially returned to Ireland with intent to stay) in the mid-50s and subsequently attended schools in Aldershot (Hampshire), and, following the death and repatriation of his grandmother, Carshalton Beeches (Surrey), where, despite an enforced change of denomination from Catholic to Protestant, he attended a state school. Graduating in 1970 with an assortment of CSE's (Certificate of Secondary Education) and GCE's (General Certificate of Education), including history and music, he moved the comparatively short distance up to London and went on, via two short-lived jobs, to work at the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in Bedford Square, WC1, where he eventually became responsible, as a clerical officer, for booking examination venues. After a brief flirtation with Redhill Technical College back in Surrey, where he had enrolled to study history, he returned to his former job in the West End but left the ABRSM in 1976 due to a combination of factors and began to dedicate himself to writing, which, despite a brief spell as a computer tutor at Hornsey Management Agency in the late '80s and early '90s, he has effectively continued with ever since. His novels include 'Changing Worlds' (1976), 'Cross-Purposes' (1979), 'Thwarted Ambitions' (1980), 'Sublimated Relations' (1981), and 'Deceptive Motives' (1982). Since the mid-80s Mr O'Loughlin has almost exclusively dedicated himself to philosophy, which he regards as his true literary vocation, and has penned more than sixty titles of a philosophical order, including 'Devil and God - The Omega Book' (1985-6), 'Towards the Supernoumenon' (1987), 'Elemental Spectra' (1988-9), and 'Philosophical Truth' (1991-2).