Consciousness science and constitutive a priori principles: on the fundamental identity of integrated information theory

Abstract

This paper links mathematical consciousness science, particularly Integrated Information Theory (IIT), to Immanuel Kant's philosophy. Skeptics of IIT's theoretical foundation often target its fundamental identity between an experience and Φ-structure. My account brings in the Kantian notion that this identity is a constitutive a priori principle and responds to some objections by drawing on Michael Friedman's defense of similar principles in spacetime physics. As constitutive a priori, the 〈Experience =Φ-structure〉 principle serves various intra-theory functions: (i) enables the application of the intrinsic information formalism to the axioms' phenomenology; (ii) gives empirical meaning to phenomenological concepts; (iii) ensures the possibility of scientific assessment of theory's predictions and explanations; (iv) constructs the theory's explanandum: consciousness as structured, maximally irreducible, specific, intrinsic cause-effect power; and (v) makes possible other a priori explanatory principles. Generalizing beyond IIT, this paper advocates for using constitutive apriority tools to refine the epistemological foundations of other mathematical and scientific consciousness theories. Leveraging the neo-Kantian philosophy of consciousness science research program, it highlights the potential for connecting phenomenological descriptions, physical principles, and mathematical formalism to render current theories more transparent, rigorous, and empirically tractable – a move toward a more mature consciousness science.