In the Shadow of Spengler

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