CENTRETRUTHS - Journeys to the Centre of Truth
COLLECTED PHILOSOPHY (1977-2009)
With
an Introduction by the author
Copyright
© 2007-2009 JOHN O'LOUGHLIN
___________________
INTRODUCTION
To anyone who can only
conceive of literary works in the context of books, or possibly even
audio-cassettes and/or audio CDs, this major compilation of assorted electronic
texts originally intended for CD-Rom but now available over the Internet may
seem a trifle bizarre; but, to me, it signifies the culmination of a process of
creative and ideological evolution that began several decades ago and that, frankly,
would not be served to best advantage on anything short of the chosen
medium.
For the Internet is the ideal choice, it seems to me, for anyone
who not only has a large oeuvre - spanning well over a quarter of a century
- to present to the critical judgement of others, but believes, moreover, that
it is a highly appropriate medium, given its universality, in which to publish
or, rather, freely disseminate works of a truly philosophical and therefore
truth-loving order.
Such works, it must be said, can only be aphoristic, or of a
notational brevity that defies prolixity, and it is because the greater and
most significant part of my philosophical oeuvre happens to be such, that I have
taken the trouble of putting it on the Internet in the way I have, so that its
true stature as something germane to a higher and more subjective order of
literature, not to say civilization, than that pertaining to books (with their printerly, rectilinear, voluminous, structural, and other
limitations owing more to worldly criteria than to what is genuinely
otherworldly in the synthetic artificiality of its urban universality), is
granted due recognition.
Obviously there were stages to my becoming the radical
philosopher that the above comments might indicate, and such stages are
arguably more apparent in the earlier parts of my oeuvre, when I had
yet to exclusively dedicate myself to aphoristic philosophy but was still
endeavouring to pursue a more conventional philosophical path based around both
dialogues and, in particular, essays.
At that time, back in the mid. 1970s and early '80s, I had no
idea that one day I would transcend these more conventional genres in the
interests of a more consistently methodical pursuit of moral or rational truth; though I always knew, deep down, that
I was more truth-orientated than, say, beauty- or knowledge-orientated, even if
I had yet to discover that an enhanced sense of and commitment to higher
knowledge, to what should, in genuinely religious terms, be called truth per se, or Truth
(with a capital 'T'), could only be upheld on the basis of a sort of aphoristic
purism that would both confirm and enhance one's entitlement to effectively
consider oneself - over and above pedantic concessions to academic convention -
a true philosopher, as opposed, for instance, to a man of letters who
occasionally dabbles, essayistically or otherwise, in
philosophy.
All things take time, and my growth as a writer in the process
of becoming ever more intensely philosophical, and thus effectively Messianic,
was no exception! I am only glad that I
kept at it, and thus discovered my true vocation, the sphere of creativity
where I would peak and eventually achieve something close to, if not actually
constitutive of, philosophical perfection.
In that respect, my slow rise to enlightenment could be said to
resemble the gradual progress of Bunyan's 'Pilgrim' towards the '
No, one cannot get to the Truth overnight, and if I have got to
it, that is to say, to an accommodation with a species of higher knowledge
which, on account of its sensibly metaphysical orientation, I can logically
call true, then that is only because of the initial and intermediate stages of
philosophical creativity which, whilst falling demonstrably short of the Truth
(as, incidentally, they had every right to do) kept me on track for the goal
that destiny was seemingly preparing for me all the while - a goal of
consummate philosophical fulfilment such that made it possible for me to declare
my pursuit of Truth to have effectively reached its culmination and for me to
take upon myself certain Messianic presumptions and responsibilities, whereby
it might reasonably be inferred by anyone who becomes sufficiently
well-acquainted with my works that, through what I advocate, I am the
resurrection of the 'dead in life' to the 'Life Eternal', and that no-one, but
no-one, can enter the heaven of 'Kingdom Come' (as explained in rather more
contemporary terms in my later texts) except through me, which is to say,
through a careful study and, ultimately, acceptance and, more importantly,
implementation of my mature teachings, whether with my assistance or otherwise.
However, such teachings would not be all that accessible without
a painstaking progress, as chronologically as possible, through my entire
philosophical oeuvre;
for to fully understand the terminological implications of a later work it
helps to have ploughed through an earlier one, to have climbed from a lower
rung, as it were, of the philosophical ladder to a higher rung, no matter how
erroneous or mistaken some of its earlier contentions or assumptions may happen
to be or prove, in retrospect, to have been, and thus gradually come to an
understanding of the way my mind works and how, inevitably, things only develop
and improve gradually ... as the fruit of unremitting effort over an extended
period of methodical time, given the immense complexities of the task before
one.
Clearly this possibility of chronologically progressing through
a large oeuvre
would not materialize without the help of a medium like the Internet, which can
accommodate far more material than a book and thereby enable the reader to
climb, ladder-like, from work to work, and thus acquire a deeper insight into the
development of a complex philosophy than would otherwise be possible.
Then, too, no-one can point a finger at such and such a work, or
particular aspect thereof, and say: "That is surely wrong; therefore he is
a waste of time," when they are only at the half-way stage or
three-quarters of the way through the oeuvre rather than at or near its end,
where (even if I had been 'wrong' before, as I for one would be only too ready
to concede) the conclusions about metaphysical truth, and lesser though related
concerns, are often so radical and contrary to what convention or tradition
might have led one to expect ... that one would never be able to take them
seriously without having had the benefit of formative or inconclusive
philosophical developments - some of which one might, on the contrary, have
believed to be true - en route to that
definitive destination. For then one
will be in a better position both to understand and, hopefully, relate to
them!
Truth does not reveal itself to people who have not placed
themselves cautiously and diligently at its metaphysical feet, having come to
it by whatever circuitous or rambling paths.
It took me, I repeat, the best part of three decades of painstaking endeavour,
during which I was obliged to modify my approach to philosophy time and time
again! Now although it may not take any
prospective pilgrim through my works anywhere near as long to get to the end of
this particular intellectual journey, still he will be 'on the path' longer
than a few months, before he begins to understand even a fraction of the
complexities involved!
Nevertheless progress can and, I hope, will be made; for at the
end of the 'journey' it is the reader who should confirm me in my endeavour,
thereby deciding whether or not the promise of sensible deliverance from
worldly sensualities or shortcomings it contains will be realized by the (phenomenal) Many rather than
simply continue to be hogged by the (noumenal)
Few.
For the philosophy I have developed, under the rubric of Social
Theocracy and/or Social Transcendentalism, is an ideological philosophy, a
philosophy with social implications, and it appeals to those whom I have
specifically earmarked, or 'chosen', to consider well the potential for radical
change it promises and to act, democratically and responsibly, to help bring
about such change in due course, so that the dream may be turned into reality
and the reality bear all the hallmarks of the transmutation of this ideological
philosophy into a sort of psychological theosophy - in short, of theory into
practice. I am, in a way, the judge of
metaphysical truth, the self-appointed godfather of Social Theocracy, but I must also be judged, or recognized and acknowledged, not least by those who are destined to become my 'sons',
else it will not help bring to pass what has been anticipated and expected by
the faithful for so very long and which the Church has made it its responsibility to uphold faith in - namely the establishment and furtherance, under messianic auspices, of 'Kingdom Come', a sort of 'Kingdom Union' of all the countries that become involved with it, which, if my theories are true, should eventually encompass the entire world, making global civilization a unified reality ultimately capable of space-centre apotheosis.
John
O'Loughlin, London 2003-09
NB.
Some common acronyms frequently occurring in the texts include:
CD(s)
- Compact Disc(s);
CND
- Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament;
CNS
- Central Nervous System;
CPU
- Central Processing Unit;
DVD(s)
- Digital Versatile Disc(s);
ESP
- Extra-Sensory Perception;
IUD
- Intra-Uterine Device;
LP(s)
- Long Player(s);
LSD
- Lysergic Acid Diethylamide;
PVC
- Polyvinyl Chloride;
VDU - Visual Display Unit.