{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,10]],"date-time":"2026-05-10T05:49:42Z","timestamp":1778392182690,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":69,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,16]],"date-time":"2023-10-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1697414400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Center for Research, Innovation and Creation, Temuco Catholic University","award":["3210707"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3210707"]}]},{"name":"Center for Research, Innovation and Creation, Temuco Catholic University","award":["40011405"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["40011405"]}]},{"name":"ANID-FONDECYT Postdoctoral Grant","award":["3210707"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3210707"]}]},{"name":"ANID-FONDECYT Postdoctoral Grant","award":["40011405"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["40011405"]}]},{"name":"Azrieli Foundation","award":["3210707"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3210707"]}]},{"name":"Azrieli Foundation","award":["40011405"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["40011405"]}]},{"name":"FNRS postdoctoral","award":["3210707"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3210707"]}]},{"name":"FNRS postdoctoral","award":["40011405"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["40011405"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Entropy"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Integrated Information Theory (IIT) is currently one of the most influential scientific theories of consciousness. Here, we focus specifically on a metaphysical aspect of the theory\u2019s most recent version (IIT 4.0), what we may call its idealistic ontology, and its tension with a kind of realism about the external world that IIT also endorses. IIT 4.0 openly rejects the mainstream view that consciousness is generated by the brain, positing instead that consciousness is ontologically primary while the physical domain is just \u201coperational\u201d. However, this philosophical position is presently underdeveloped and is not rigorously formulated in IIT, potentially leading to many misinterpretations and undermining its overall explanatory power. In the present paper we aim to address this issue. We argue that IIT\u2019s idealistic ontology should be understood as a specific combination of phenomenal primitivism, reductionism regarding \u03a6-structures and complexes, and eliminativism about non-conscious physical entities. Having clarified this, we then focus on the problematic tension between IIT\u2019s idealistic ontology and its simultaneous endorsement of realism, according to which there is some kind of external reality independent of our minds. After refuting three potential solutions to this theoretical tension, we propose the most plausible alternative: understanding IIT\u2019s realism as an assertion of the existence of other experiences beyond one\u2019s own, what we call a non-solipsistic idealist realism. We end with concluding remarks and future research avenues.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/e25101453","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,16]],"date-time":"2023-10-16T10:06:36Z","timestamp":1697450796000},"page":"1453","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["The Fundamental Tension in Integrated Information Theory 4.0\u2019s Realist Idealism"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7322-1977","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ignacio","family":"Cea","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Research, Innovation and Creation, Temuco Catholic University, Temuco 4813302, Chile"},{"name":"Faculty of Religious Sciences and Philosophy, Temuco Catholic University, Temuco 4813302, Chile"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Niccolo","family":"Negro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Camilo Miguel","family":"Signorelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"FNRS, GIGA Institute, University of Liege, Rue d\u2019Egmont 5, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium"},{"name":"Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, Wolfson Building, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QD, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"439","DOI":"10.1038\/s41583-022-00587-4","article-title":"Theories of Consciousness","volume":"23","author":"Seth","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. 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