The consciousness-first commitment of integrated information theory.
Neuroscience of Consciousness November 2, 2026 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niag074 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Consciousness Integrated information theory Explanatory identity |
| Key points | Argues that IIT's explanatory identity between experience and Φ-structures requires recalibrating scientific norms of explanation, because unlike "water is H2O", the explanandum is experience itself, which exists immediately and irrefutably, while claims about a world beyond experience are inferences within experience. |
Abstract
Integrated information theory (IIT) accounts for consciousness through its explanatory identity: an experience (the explanandum) is identical to a causal structure (or Φ-structure, the explanans). In other identities in science (e.g. 'water is H2O'), the power of the explanans (H2O) comes from the presumption that it somehow exists more fundamentally. Yet when our explanandum is experience itself, as in IIT, we must recalibrate the norms of explanation to the fact that experience exists immediately and irrefutably, while whatever we may posit about the world beyond experience is always an inference within experience.
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- We need to explain subjective experience, but its explanation may not be mechanistic Neuroscience of Consciousness August 29, 2022
- Is my "red" your "red"?: Evaluating structural correspondences between color similarity judgments using unsupervised alignment. iScience March 21, 2025
- Integrated information theory (IIT) 4.0: Formulating the properties of phenomenal existence in physical terms. PLoS Computational Biology October 17, 2023