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What Does ‘Information’ Mean in Integrated Information Theory?

Lombardi, Olimpia, López, Cristian·2018·Entropy
DOI 10.3390/e20120894
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Abstract

Integrated Information Theory (IIT) intends to provide a principled theoretical approach able to characterize consciousness both quantitatively and qualitatively. By starting off identifying the fundamental properties of experience itself, IIT develops a formal framework that relates those properties to the physical substratum of consciousness. One of the central features of ITT is the role that information plays in the theory. On the one hand, one of the self-evident truths about consciousness is that it is informative. On the other hand, mechanisms and systems of mechanics can contribute to consciousness only if they specify systems’ intrinsic information. In this paper, we will conceptually analyze the notion of information underlying ITT. Following previous work on the matter, we will particularly argue that information within ITT should be understood in the light of a causal-manipulabilist view of information (López and Lombardi 2018), conforming to which information is an entity that must be involved in causal links in order to be precisely defined. Those causal links are brought to light by means of interventionist procedures following Woodward’s and Pearl’s version of the manipulability theories of causation.

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Metadata

Authors
Lombardi, O., & López, C.
Affiliations
CONICET–Institute of Philosophy, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 1406, Argentina
ORCID
Lombardi, Olimpia
Venue
Entropy
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2018-11-22
Volume
20
Issue
12
Pages
894
ISSN
1099-4300
DOI
10.3390/e20120894
Cited by
17
References
8
Language
en
Licence
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (vor)

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Lombardi, O., & López, C. (2018). What Does ‘Information’ Mean in Integrated Information Theory? Entropy. https://doi.org/10.3390/e20120894