Integrated Information Theory 4.0 is both Weakly Panpsychist and Strongly Dualist, but many Theories of Consciousness are also Prone to It

Authors

  • Sergey B. Yurchenko Brain and Consciousness Independent Research Center, P.O. 710132, Andijan, Uzbekistan 0000-0001-8582-003X
10.5281/zenodo.10877331

Abstract

Since its first formulation the Integrated Information Theory (IIT) has recently been updated to the version 4.0. Unlike the previous versions where the problem of free will was completely neglected, IIT 4.0 claims to suggest a full neuroscientific account of this oldest problem in the philosophy of mind. The aim of this opinion paper is to show that IIT’s account of free will is apparently dualist and reminiscent of the conventional free will in folk psychology, where mental constructs such as beliefs and desires are regarded as actual causes of human actions. On the other hand, these mental constructs can have high predictive power, compared to that provided by neuroscience. Thus, while rejecting ontological dualism, one can accept methodological dualism, compatible with eliminative physicalism, by virtue of its predictive power and descriptive parsimony.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biography

Sergey B. Yurchenko, Brain and Consciousness Independent Research Center, P.O. 710132, Andijan, Uzbekistan

Brain and Consciousness Independent Research Center, P.O. 710132, Andijan, Uzbekistan

References

Albantakis L, Barbosa L, Findlay G, Grasso M, Haun AM, et al. Integrated Information Theory (IIT) 4.0: Formulating the Properties of Phenomenal Existence in Physical Terms. 2023. arXiv:2212.14787

Bedau MA. Weak emergence. Nous 1997; 31(11):375–399.

Block N. On a confusion about a function of consciousness. Behav Brain Sci 1995; 18:227-287.

Cea I, Negro N, Signorelli CM. The Fundamental Tension in Integrated Information Theory 4.0’s Realist Idealism. Entropy 2023; 25:1453.

Dehaene S, Naccache L. Towards a cognitive permanence of consciousness: basic evidence and a workspace framework. Cognition 2001; 79:1–37.

Ellia F, Hendren J, Grasso M, et al. Consciousness and the fallacy of misplaced objectivity. Neurosci Conscious 2021; 7(2):1–12. niab032

Evers K, Farisco M, Pennartz CMA. Assessing the commensurability of theories of consciousness: On the usefulness of common denominators in differentiating, integrating and testing hypotheses. Conscious Cogn 2024; 119:103668.

Fleming SM, Frith C, Goodale M, et al. The Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness as Pseudoscience. 2023; https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/zsr78

Friston KJ, Schwartenbeck P, FitzGerald T, et al. The anatomy of choice: active inference and agency. Front Hum Neurosci 2013; 7:598.

Kanai R, Fujisawa I. Towards a Universal Theory of Consciousness. 2023; https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/r5t2n

Khalighinejad N, Schurger A, Desantis A, et al. Precursor processes of human self-initiated action. Neuroimage 2018; 165:35–4.

Kim J. Emergence: Core ideas and issues. Synthese 2016; 151 3:547–59.

Libet B. Unconscious cerebral initiative and the role of conscious will in voluntary action. Behav Brain Sci 1985; 8:529–566.

Maoz U, Yaffe G, Koch C, Mudrik L. Neural precursors of decisions that matter—an ERP study of deliberate and arbitrary choice. eLife 2019; 8:e39787.

Mørch HH. Is consciousness intrinsic: A problem for the integrated information theory. J Conscious Stud 2019; 26:133–162.

Newsome WT. Neuroscience, Explanation, and the Problem of Free Will. in W. Sinnott-Armstrong (ed.), Moral Psychology: Free Will and Moral Responsibility. Vol. 4. Cambridge: MIT Press 2014; pp. 81–96.

Nichelli PF, Grafman J. The place of Free Will: the freedom of the prisoner. Neurol Sci 2024; 45(3):861-871.

Rosenthal DM. Consciousness and its function. Neuropsychologia 2008; 46:829–840.

Seth AK, Bayne T. Theories of consciousness. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2022; 23(7):439-452.

Soon CS, He AH, Bode S, Haynes JD. Predicting free choices for abstract intentions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2013; 110:6217–6222.

Takayanagi Y, Ishizuka K, Laursen TM, et al. From population to neuron: exploring common mediators for metabolic problems and mental illnesses. Mol Psychiatry 2021; 26(8):3931-3942.

Tononi G. Consciousness as integrated information: a provisional manifesto. Biol Bull 2008; 215:216–242.

Tononi G, Koch C. Consciousness: here, there and everywhere? Phil Trans R Soc London, B. 2015; 370:20140167.

Tononi G, Albantakis L, Boly M, et al. Only what exists can cause: An intrinsic view of free will. 2022; https://arxiv.org/abs/2206.02069

Whitehead AN. Process and Reality. 1978; New York: The Free Press.

Wisniewski D, Deutschländer R, Haynes JD. Free will beliefs are better predicted by dualism than determinism beliefs across different cultures.

PLoS One 2019; 14(9):e0221617.

Yurchenko SB. From the origins to the stream of consciousness and its neural correlates. Front Integr Neurosci 2022; 16:928978.

Yurchenko SB. Is information the other face of causation in biological systems? BioSystems 2023a; 229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystems.2023.104925

Yurchenko SB. A systematic approach to brain dynamics: cognitive evolution theory of consciousness. Cognitive Neurodynamics 2023b; 17, 3:575-603.

Downloads

Published

23.03.2024

How to Cite

Yurchenko, S. B. (2024). Integrated Information Theory 4.0 is both Weakly Panpsychist and Strongly Dualist, but many Theories of Consciousness are also Prone to It . Journal of NeuroPhilosophy, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10877331

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2024)

Section

Opinion and Perspectives

Categories

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Sergey B. Yurchenko

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Authors continue to hold copyright with no restrictions.