Head to head
Integrated Information Theory vs Spinoza’s One Reality
Integrated Information Theory (IIT) and Spinoza’s One Reality: Embodied Mind and Graded Consciousness, compared field by field from their entries in the Atlas.
At a glance
- Integrated Information Theory belongs to the Information family in Kuhn's Landscape of Consciousness, Spinoza’s One Reality to Neutral Monism.
- On AI consciousness, Integrated Information Theory says “No” and Spinoza’s One Reality says “Conditional”.
- On meaning and purpose, Integrated Information Theory says “Uncertain” and Spinoza’s One Reality says “Cosmic/Ultimate”.
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The claim
In brief
Integrated Information TheoryIIT is an original, radical model that proposes a definition for conscious experience and specifies which physical systems can possess it, starting from the phenomenology of consciousness (axioms). It translates these axioms into physical postulates based on intrinsic cause-effect power, featuring a mathematical measure Φ(Phi) to quantify a system's capacity for informational integration, which correlates with the degree of consciousness.
Spinoza’s One RealityBaruch Spinoza holds that there is only one substance, God or Nature, known to us under two attributes, thought and extension. A human mind is the idea of an actually existing human body: one and the same thing as the body, conceived under thought. Because every body has a corresponding idea, mind runs through all of nature, and consciousness varies by degree with the complexity and power of the body.
What consciousness is
Integrated Information TheoryConsciousness is identified as a Φ-structure, a maximally reduced conceptual structure existing in 'qualia space'. An experience is identical to this conceptual structure, meaning its phenomenal properties correspond precisely to the physical properties of the cause-effect structure unfolded from the physical substrate of consciousness (PSC).
Spinoza’s One RealityThe mind is the idea of the body, the same individual conceived under the attribute of thought rather than extension. Spinoza does not single out phenomenal consciousness as a category; his interpreters read consciousness as higher-order awareness, cognitive access, power or complexity of thinking, or affective awareness.
Big questions
Can AI be conscious?Differ
Integrated Information TheoryNoKoch, a proponent, argues that consciousness is not computable. Digital computers have negligible integrated information (Φ(Phi)) due to hardware structure, meaning they can never be sentient, regardless of intelligence.
Spinoza’s One RealityConditionalSince every body has a corresponding mind whose richness tracks the body's complexity and power, a sufficiently complex artificial body would have a correspondingly rich mind; whether that mind would be conscious in the human sense is contested.
Integrated Information TheoryUncertainIf phenomenal consciousness requires a radically new structure (like IIT's postulates), the potential permanence of these 'inscrutable things' cannot be rejected, leaving the possibility of survival open, even though IIT does not explicitly espouse life after death.
Spinoza’s One RealityNo position
Integrated Information TheoryNoIf consciousness is a fundamental property tied to real cause-effect power, a digital simulation (uploading) would only create a 'perfect zombie'—an entity that acts like the original but lacks subjective consciousness—because the simulation is virtual, lacking the required real cause-effect power.
Spinoza’s One RealityNo position
Integrated Information TheoryUncertainWhile the measurement and analysis of consciousness do not convey ultimate meaning, the speculative nature and novelty of the innumerable nth dimensional conceptual structures (conscious percepts) warrants suspending judgment on ultimate meaning/purpose/value.
Spinoza’s One RealityCosmic/UltimateMinds are modes of God or Nature, and freedom lies in understanding the causal order of Nature through more adequate ideas.
Nature of mind
Ontology
Integrated Information TheoryIIT's fundamental ontology is the ontological primacy of phenomenal existence, based on an intrinsic powers view where what truly exists in physical terms are intrinsic entities capable of cause and effect. Koch notes that the theory insists consciousness must be incorporated into the basic description of reality at the rock-bottom level.
Spinoza’s One RealitySubstance monism (dual-attribute)
Mind and body
Integrated Information TheoryIIT asserts an explanatory identity: an experience is identical to a Φ-structure. It contends that the conscious entity is the Φ-structure expressing its causal powers, not the neural substrate itself. This framework leaves no room for emergence or dualism.
Spinoza’s One RealityMind and body neither interact nor merely correlate; they are one thing under two descriptions. ‘The order and connection of ideas is the same as the order and connection of things’ (Ethics 2p7), so thought is explained only through thought and extension only through extension.
Fundamental or emergent
Integrated Information TheoryConsciousness is defined by intrinsic existence and characterized as belonging to the basic description of reality. The theory rejects emergence.
Spinoza’s One RealityPrimitive
Qualia
Integrated Information TheoryDistinct conscious experiences are conceptual structures in a 'qualia space'. The qualitative feel (phenomenal properties) corresponds one-to-one to the physical properties of the maximally irreducible cause-effect structure, which is also called a quale.
Spinoza’s One RealitySpinoza has no explicit theory of phenomenal character. Interpreters reconstruct it from his accounts of sensation, imagination and affect, where an affect is both a change in the body's power of acting and the idea of that change.
How it works
Mechanism
Integrated Information TheoryThe core principle is Integrated Information (Φ(Phi)), which quantifies the system's irreducibility. The Exclusion Postulate ensures that only the maximally irreducible cause-effect structure (the Φ-structure) exists intrinsically, defining the boundaries and grain of consciousness.
Spinoza’s One RealityPsychophysical identity under parallel attributes: whatever happens in the body as extension happens in the mind as an idea, so no causal bridge between them is needed.
Where it is
Integrated Information TheoryConsciousness is not limited to biological brains. IIT predicts the conscious structure resides in the posterior cortex (occipital, parietal, and temporal cortices). Systems with maximally irreducible intrinsic cause-effect power possess consciousness.
Spinoza’s One RealityMentality is everywhere in nature, since all individuals are ‘animate’ in some degree (2p13s). Whether this means every physical thing has phenomenal experience is contested, and Spinoza does not treat God or Nature as one human-like conscious subject.
What it does
Integrated Information TheoryConsciousness is identified as unfolded intrinsic causal power, which is the ability to effect change. Only this intrinsic entity (the Φ-structure) can cause, supporting the claim that true free will exists for systems with high Φ(Phi).
Spinoza’s One RealityMind never causes bodily motion and body never causes thought. Affects make ideas matter to behavior by increasing, decreasing or fixing the mind's striving, and freedom comes from forming more adequate ideas of the causes acting on us.
Evidence and criticism
Testability
Integrated Information TheoryIIT claims scientific testability, employing quantitative measurement. However, critics argue that the theory is not truly empirically tested, and its core predictions may be idiosyncratic.
Spinoza’s One RealitySpeculative
Tests so far
Integrated Information TheoryCalculating Φ(Phi) for specific neural networks (e.g., visual cortex).,Monitoring brain activity as subjects slip into anesthesia.,Adversarial collaboration experiments testing predictions about sustained activity in the posterior cortex.
Spinoza’s One RealityNot stated
Criticisms
Integrated Information TheoryThe theory faces criticism for anti-common sense predictions (imputing consciousness to simple objects). A public letter characterized IIT as 'pseudoscience'. Critics challenge that experiments test only idiosyncratic predictions and not the core metaphysical ideas. Chalmers noted the 'pseudoscience' label was disproportionate and caused vast collateral damage.
Spinoza’s One RealityThe identity formula says mind and body are one thing but not what makes the thought side felt. The ideas-of-ideas reading makes every idea conscious, which Bennett called absurdly excessive, and LeBuffe notes that a mind's overall power and the power of its ideas can diverge, giving odd verdicts on degrees.
Sources
Key sources
Integrated Information Theory
- From the phenomenology to the mechanisms of consciousness: integrated information theory 3.0, Oizumi, Albantakis, Tononi (2014)
- Consciousness: here, there and everywhere?, Tononi and Koch (2015)
- Only what exists can cause: an intrinsic powers view of free will, Tononi et al. (2022)
Spinoza’s One Reality
- Ethics, Baruch Spinoza (E. Curley, Ed. and Trans., The Collected Works of Spinoza) (1677)
- Spinoza’s Metaphysics: An Essay in Interpretation, E. Curley (1969)
- A Study of Spinoza's Ethics, J. Bennett (1984)
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