Informational Substance Theory: From Substantial Motion to Conscious Fields

Abstract

Informational Substance Theory (IST) proposes a novel metaphysical framework where dynamic, structured information constitutes the fundamental ontological substrate of reality. Drawing on Mulla Sadra’s doctrine of substantial motion (al-harakat al-jawhariyya) which envisions existence as perpetual becoming IST integrates quantum field theory (QFT), loop quantum gravity (LQG), and Integrated Information Theory (IIT) to unify physics, metaphysics, and philosophy of mind. We redefine substances as a self-organizing informational continuum, where physical fields emerge as excitations, spacetime as quantized relational networks, and consciousness as a highly integrated, self-reflexive informational field. Contrasting IST with panpsychism, neutral monism, and process philosophy, we argue it avoids traditional dualisms and reductionism, offering a non-reductive solution to the “hard problem” of consciousness. Grounded in empirical frameworks like IIT’s Φ metric and neural field theories (e.g., active inference), IST suggests testable implications, including experiments on informational integration in consciousness and quantum cosmology. By formalizing the informational continuum via information geometry and category theory, IST bridges Sadrian metaphysics with modern science, proposing that the universe is a self-evolving narrative of information. We outline future research to model this ontology and explore its ethical and cosmological implications.