Explanatory Models for Near-Death Experiences
January 1, 2009 Bruce Greyson, Emily Williams Kelly, Edward F. Kelly 88 citations
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Edward F. Kelly
University of Virginia
2 papers in the library · 91 citations · publishing 2009-2022
Papers
Some Conceptual and Empirical Shortcomings of IIT
Journal of Anomalous Experience and Cognition October 18, 2022 Edward F. Kelly 3 citations
The Integrated Information Theory of consciousness (IIT) appears promising because it explains neuroscientific facts, makes testable predictions, and offers a technique for detecting consciousness in non-verbal organisms. However, the theory is fundamentally flawed. Key unresolved conceptual issues concern IIT's concept of "information" and its approach to the "hard problem" of consciousness. Empirical phenomena IIT cannot handle include: dissociative identity disorder with overlapping centers of consciousness in one organism; psychedelic states whose intense phenomenology is not reflected in neuroelectric activity; and near-death experiences during cardiac arrest, where IIT predicts no consciousness is possible. These arguments suggest IIT and its physicalist competitors are untenable, but scientifically and philosophically respectable alternatives exist.