The transcendental deduction of integrated information theory: connecting the axioms, postulates, and identity through categories
Open accessPublished version of a preprint
Abstract
This paper deals with a foundational aspect of Integrated Information Theory (IIT) of consciousness: the nature of the relation between the axioms of phenomenology and the postulates of cause-effect power. There has been a lack of clarity in the literature regarding this crucial issue, for which IIT has received much criticism of its axiomatic method and basic tenets. The present contribution elucidates the problem by means of a categorial analysis of the theory’s foundations. Its main results are that: (i) IIT has a set of nine fundamental concepts of reason, called categories, which constitute its categorial lexicon and through which it formulates a system of principles incorporating the axioms, the postulates, and the central identity; and (ii) the connection between the axioms and postulates is grounded by their common root in this categorial lexicon, the categories of which find their justification by means of a phenomenological and transcendental deduction. Some further results are the unique origin of axioms and postulates in the categories; the distinction between conceptual and formalized postulates; a clarification of the uniqueness problem of categorial lexica in general; and an IIT account of objectivity by explicating how the physical is (re)defined by means of categories. All of this is put to use against various criticism targeting IIT’s theoretical core. If successful, the proposed interpretation illuminates a central issue in the contemporary study of consciousness and contributes to an environment of mutual understanding between defenders and critics of the theory.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The operationalisation of axioms into their corresponding postulates is based on an 'inference to a good explanation' under the assumption there exists an observer-independent reality comprising reliable causal relations that can be analysed in terms of their smallest constituents.
“The operationalisation of axioms into their corresponding postulates is based on an 'inference to a good explanation' under the assumption there exists an observer-independent reality comprising reliable causal relations that can be analysed in terms of their smallest constituents (Albantakis et al., 2023; Chis-Ciure, 2022; Tononi et al., 2022; cf. Cea et al., 2023).”
From Integrated information and predictive processing theories of consciousness: An adversarial collaborative review (2026) · cites this paper as Chis-Ciure, 2022
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Journal of Consciousness Studies
(2022) · Journal of Consciousness Studies · doi:10.53765/20512201 · Cited by 6,852 · see citing works
Kant, I. (1998) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511804649 · Cited by 4,139 · see citing works
Critique of the Power of Judgment
Kant, I. (2000) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511804656 · Cited by 3,079 · see citing works
Integrated information theory: from consciousness to its physical substrate
Tononi, G., Boly, M., Massimini, M., & Koch, C. (2016) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.44 · Cited by 1,727 · see citing works
From the phenomenology to the mechanisms of consciousness: integrated information theory 3.0
Oizumi, M., Albantakis, L., & Tononi, G. (2014) · PLoS Computational Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003588 · Cited by 1,128 · see citing works
Bayne, T. (2010) · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199215386.001.0001 · Cited by 402 · see citing works
Tononi, G. (2015) · Scholarpedia · doi:10.4249/scholarpedia.4164 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
Transcendental arguments : problems and prospects
Stern, R. (1999) · Oxford University Press eBooks · Cited by 184 · see citing works
Why Does Space Feel the Way it Does? Towards a Principled Account of Spatial Experience
Haun, A., & Tononi, G. (2019) · Entropy · doi:10.3390/e21121160 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
The unfolding argument: Why IIT and other causal structure theories cannot explain consciousness
Doerig, A., Schurger, A., Hess, K., & Herzog, M. H. (2019) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2019.04.002 · Cited by 140 · cited 6× · see citing works
“Doerig et al. (2019) proposed an unfolding argument according to which causal structure theories like IIT are either false or non-falsifiable, thus non-scientific.”
BackgroundInfluentialThe integrated information theory of consciousness: A case of mistaken identity
Merker, B. H., Williford, K., & Rudrauf, D. (2021) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x21000881 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
On the axiomatic foundations of the integrated information theory of consciousness
Bayne, T. (2018) · Neuroscience of Consciousness · doi:10.1093/nc/niy007 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
First principles in the life sciences: the free-energy principle, organicism, and mechanism
Colombo, M., & Wright, C. (2021) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-018-01932-w · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Kant's Anatomy of the Intelligent Mind
Waxman, W. (2013) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199328314.001.0001 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Mechanism Integrated Information
Barbosa, L. S., Marshall, W., Albantakis, L., & Tononi, G. (2021) · Entropy · doi:10.3390/e23030362 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
How causal analysis can reveal autonomy in models of biological systems
Marshall, W., Kim, H., Walker, S. I., Tononi, G., & Albantakis, L. (2017) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences · doi:10.1098/rsta.2016.0358 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Transcendental Arguments and Scepticism : Answering the Question of Justification
Stern, R. (2000) · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness
Tononi, G. (2017) · doi:10.1002/9781119132363.ch44 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Consciousness and the fallacy of misplaced objectivity
Ellia, F., Hendren, J., Grasso, M., Kozma, C., Mindt, G., P. Lang, J., M. Haun, A., Albantakis, L., Boly, M., & Tononi, G. (2021) · Neuroscience of Consciousness · doi:10.1093/nc/niab032 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Falsification and consciousness
Kleiner, J., & Hoel, E. (2021) · Neuroscience of Consciousness · doi:10.1093/nc/niab001 · Cited by 46 · cited 6× · see citing works
“(Kleiner & Hoel, 2021, p. 11) I have three lines of reply to this criticism.11 Firstly, what Kleiner and Hoel (2021) miss, besides the common root of axioms and postulates in the same categorial lexicon evidenced in this contribution, is the important distinction between the conceptual postulates…”
BackgroundInfluentialAn Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness
Tononi, G. (2009) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119132363.ch17 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Falsification and consciousness
Kleiner, J., & Hoel, E. (2020) · arXiv · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2004.03541 · Cited by 46
A measure for intrinsic information
Barbosa, L. S., Marshall, W., Streipert, S., Albantakis, L., & Tononi, G. (2020) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-020-75943-4 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Causal reductionism and causal structures
Grasso, M., Albantakis, L., Lang, J. P., & Tononi, G. (2021) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/s41593-021-00911-8 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Constituting Objectivity. Transcendental Perspectives on Modern Physics
Bitbol, M., Kerszberg, P., & Petitot, J. (2009) · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-9510-8 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Negro, N. (2020) · Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11097-020-09681-3 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
A Kantian virtue epistemology: rational capacities and transcendental arguments
Schäfer, K. (2018) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-018-02005-8 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Consciousness and complexity: Neurobiological naturalism and integrated information theory
Ellia, F., & Chis-Ciure, R. (2022) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2022.103281 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Self-citationTranscendental Arguments and Science Essays in Epistemology
Bieri, P., Horstmann, R., & Krüger, L. (1979) · D. Reidel eBooks · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Interpretation-Neutral Integrated Information TheoryPreprint
McQueen, K. J. (2018) · PhilSci-Archive (University of Pittsburgh) · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Facing up to the Hard Problem of Consciousness as an Integrated Information Theorist
Chis-Ciure, R., & Ellia, F. (2021) · Foundations of Science · doi:10.1007/s10699-020-09724-7 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Self-citationTranscendental Arguments in Scientific Reasoning
Hoffmann, M. H. G. (2018) · Erkenntnis · doi:10.1007/s10670-018-0013-9 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 5
- Chis-Ciure, R. (2022a). The A Priori Foundations of Integrated Information Theory: Toward a Transcendental Science of Consciousness, doctoral dissertation.
- Chis-Ciure, R. (2022b). Categorial Systems and Transcendental Reasoning: Why and How Theories of Consciousness Must Redefine the Meaning of Objectivity, under review.
- Chis-Ciure, R. (2022c). The Central Identity of Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness as Constitutive A Priori Principle, under review.
- Chis-Ciure, R. (2022d). Kant's A Priori in the Context of Constitutive Principles, under review.
- Ellia, F. (2021). Integrated Information Theory: An Empirically Testable Solution to the Mind-Body Problem, doctoral dissertation.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
A measure centrality index for systematic empirical comparison of consciousness theories
Chis-Ciure, R., Melloni, L., & Northoff, G. (2024) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105670 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Self-citationThe fundamental tension in integrated information theory 4.0’s realist idealism
Cea, I., Negro, N., & Signorelli, C. M. (2023) · Entropy · doi:10.3390/e25101453 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
We need to explain subjective experience, but its explanation may not be mechanistic
Signorelli, C. M., Cea, I., & Prentner, R. (2025) · Neuroscience of Consciousness · doi:10.1093/nc/niaf034 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Cañizares, J. S. (2023) · Philosophia · doi:10.1007/s11406-023-00684-3 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Category theory in consciousness science: going beyond the correlational project
Prentner, R. (2024) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-024-04718-5 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Corcoran, A. W., Haun, A. M., Dorman, R., Tononi, G., Friston, K. J., & Pennartz, C. M. A. (2026) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2026.106742 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Chis-Ciure, R. (2024) · Philosophica International Journal for the History of Philosophy · doi:10.5840/philosophica202512220 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationChis-Ciure, R. (2025) · Philosophical Explorations · doi:10.1080/13869795.2025.2550245 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationCausal ontology and definiteness of consciousness
Moon, K. (2025) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-025-05069-5
The Conceivability Argument and the Referential Opacity of Natural Kind Terms
Jylkkä, J., & Chis-Ciure, R. (2026) · Mind and Matter · doi:10.53765/mm2026.85
Self-citation
- Authors
- Chis-Ciure, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Corresponding author
- Chis-Ciure, Robert
- ORCID
- Chis-Ciure, Robert
- Venue
- Synthese
- Published
- 2022-05-24
- Volume
- 200
- Issue
- 3
- ISSN
- 0039-7857 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-0964
- OpenAlex
- W4281392483
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 1.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Synthese (publishedVersion)
- PhilSci-Archive (University of Pittsburgh) (acceptedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Romania-U.S. Fulbright Commission (Fulbright Student Fellowship)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Embodied and Extended Cognition
- Keywords
- integrated information theory, consciousness, transcendental deduction, phenomenology, axioms, categories, objectivity, philosophy of mind
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
