In search of lost time: Integrated information theory needs constraints from temporal phenomenology
Philosophy and the Mind Sciences June 3, 2022 Ishan Singhal, Ramya Mudumba, N. Srinivasan
Integrated information theory (IIT) of consciousness claims an identity between its causal structure and phenomenology, aiming to explain consciousness by prioritizing first-person experience. However, this critique argues that IIT's phenomenological analysis is incomplete because it overlooks temporality. The theory takes a non-identical illusionist stance towards experiences of continuity, flow, and extent, and isolates temporal grains to a single timescale, missing the multi-scale nested nature of temporal phenomena. The authors contend that IIT needs an axiom for time to refine its causal structure and account for temporal experiences, proposing such an axiom and discussing potential revisions to the theory.