Miriam Kyselo
Om
💬 German, English, French, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish
About me
I am a philosopher and cognitive scientist. I contribute to theoretical renewal and I actively engage in interdisciplinary research with the natural sciences, especially with psychology, neuroscience and robotics/AI. I thus relate philosophical, conceptual reasoning to empirical and experimental research.
At NTNU, I co-lead the "cognition, meaning and reality" research group at IFR and coordinate the interdisciplinary research network "agency, action and embodiment (AAE)" seeking to strenghten collaboration and dialogue between the humanities and the natural sciences.
I am PI of a qualitative pilot project on "Embodied Agency in Patient-Doctor Relationships" at St.Olav's hospital Trondheim, funded by HF, NTNU.
In my previous position I have founded the interself lab (at TU Berlin) a research group bringing together philosophers and psychologists to understand embodied selfhood and how it transformed through social interactions. I was also a Co-PI at "Science of Intelligence" a robotics based excellence cluster at TU Berlin.
Research Profile
My specialties are in philosophy of mind, philosophy of cognition, especially the so-called 4E approaches (enacted, extended, embodied, embedded aspects of the mind), philosophy of psychology, as well as interdisciplinary research in cognitive science. My goal is to contribute to the development of a relational model of the self, which integrates embodiment, sociality and technology. I am also researching inter-agent affordances, (mental) health and social cognition.
Feel free to get in touch with me if you want to discuss collaborative projects or synergy potentials e.g. in the areas of embodied cognition, agency, (artificial) intelligence, mental and physical health, interaction dynamics.
Current Position and Roles
- Professor in Philosophy at Institute of Philosophy and Religious Studies, NTNU Norway
- Deputy Institute Leader (Research), Institute of Philosophy and Religious Studies, NTNU
- Co-Leader "Cognition, Meaning and Reality", Institute of Philosophy and Religious Studies
- Leader "Agency, Action and Embodiment" research group, NTNU Trondheim
- Co-PI Team Physical Activity in NTNU strategic research area "Health and Life Science"
Honorary Appointments
- Parental Leave with Sonya Frances October 2020 - August 2021, Trondheim, Norway
- Member Einstein Circle "Exploring Otherness" of Einstein Foundation Berlin
- Associated Faculty Member Berlin Mind and Brain School, Humboldt University Berlin
Past Employments
- Co-Principal Investigator at “SCIoI” (Interdisciplinary Cluster of the German Excellence Strategy)
- Visiting Full Professor Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence, Technical University of Berlin, Germany
- Visiting Full Professor Philosophy of Cognition, Technical University of Berlin, Germany
- Marie Curie Experienced Researcher (IPODI), Berlin Center for Knowledge Research, Technical University, Berlin
- Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Theoretical Philosophy, “Science Beyond Scientism” project, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Marie Curie Post-Doctoral Researcher, University of the Basque Country, San Sebastián, Spain
- Research Fellow, Mind and Life Summer Research Institute, Garrison Institute, New York, U.S.
- Visiting Researcher, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, Section Phenomenology, Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Fuchs
- Research Assistant (philosophy of mind), Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Osnabrueck
Education
- University of Osnabrueck, PhD, Cognitive Science (Summa Cum Laude), 2013, “From Body to Self – Towards a Socially Enacted Autonomy -With Implications for Locked-in Syndrome and Schizophrenia”. Reviewers: Ezequiel Di Paolo, Evan Thompson, Sven Walter
- University of Sussex, M.A., Philosophy of Cognitive Science (With Distinction). “An Analysis of Reflexive Monism – On Reconciling 1st- and 3rd- person perspectives”, 2007
- Universities of Berlin and Potsdam, graduate and post-graduate Studies in Philosophy and Sociology
Research Area/Interest:
- Philosophy of mind and cognition (enactive, embodied, extended cognition)
- Embodied cognitive science
- Philosophy of psychology and psychiatry, disorders of the self
- Phenomenology
- Philosophy of artificial intelligence/technology
- Self, embodiment, embodied intersubjectivity, social cognition
Grants and Fellowships
- Co-Principal Investigator in DFG Cluster of the German Excellence Strategy “Science of Intelligence”, Technical University Berlin, Jan 2019
- DFG conference grant (Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft/German Research
Society) for funding the international conference “The Open Self – Investigating the
Boundaries of the Self – Bodily, Social and Technological”, at Technical University Berlin, Sep 2018 (Main Applicant) - Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, “ESSE” (An Embodied and Social Approach to the Self”), Technical University Berlin, 2015-2017
- Postdoctoral Grant “Science Beyond Scientism” VU University of Amsterdam, 2014-2015
- Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, TESIS (Towards an Embodied Science of Intersubjectivity), Node San Sebastian, University of the Basque Country (UPV), 2011-2014
- PhD Fellow Graduate School “Adaptivity in Hybrid Systems”, Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Osnabrueck, 2008-2011
Publications (click here for Google Scholar Profile)
Books
Kyselo, M (2026), The Relational Mind- An Enactive Theory of the Self, MIT press (forthcoming)
Wilde, L. R., Kyselo, M., Brandt, T., Hanem, G., & Søraa, R. A. (Eds.). (2026). Humanities Perspectives on AI: An Interdisciplinary Introduction. Scandinavian University Press.
Kyselo, M. (2013), From Body to Self – Towards a Socially Enacted Autonomy, With Implications forLocked-in Syndrome and Schizophrenia. Osnabrück: University of Osnabrück.
Antonsen et al. (...) Kyselo, M. (2023): Tenk! Lærebok til Ex.Phil., Universitetsforlaget
Articles (peer reviewed)
Kyselo, M. (2026). Art and its resonance with interbeing: Playing the score of Alva Noë’s The Entanglement. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 1-12.
Kyselo, M. (2026). Embodied agency and the blindspot of medical science. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11097-025-10133-z
Kyselo, M., (2023) What Self in Self-Organization? – Engaging Varela’s Epistemology for the Co-Embodied Self, Journal of Consciousness Studies, 30 (11-12), 80-103.
Kyselo, M., (2019) More than our Body – Minimal and Enactive Selfhood in Global Paralysis, Neuroethics, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-019-09404-9, With a response by Dan Zahavi
Galbusera, L. and Kyselo, M. (2017). The difference that makes the difference: a conceptual analysis of the Open Dialogue approach. Psychosis, in press
Mitkidis, P., Ayal, S., Heimann, K., Kyselo, M., Levy, G., and Roepstorff, A. (2017). The Effects of Extreme Rituals on Moral Behavior: the performers-observers gap hypothesis. Journal of Economic Psychology 59 (1-7).
Kyselo, M. (2016). The Minimal Self Needs a Social Update. Philosophical Psychology, 1-9. http://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2016.1214251
Kyselo, M. (2015). The Enactive Approach and Disorders of the Self. The case of Schizophrenia. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. PHEN-D-15-00045R2
Tschacher,W.,Haken,H.andKyselo,M.(2015),Alliance:Acommonfactorofpsychotherapy modeled by structural theory. Frontiers in Psychology for Clinical Settings.
Kyselo, M. (2015). Necessarily in Between: On The Role of the Social Self in Schizophrenia Research, Commentary on Gallese, V. and Ebisch, S. Journal of Consciousness Studies 22 (1-2): 241-245
Tschacher, W., Haken, H. and Kyselo, M. (2015). Empirical and structural approaches to temporality of alliance in psychotherapy. Chaos and Complexity Letters. 9.2 : 177-191
Kyselo, M., (2014) The Body Social: An Enactive Approach to the Self. Frontiers in Cognitive Science 5. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00986
Kyselo, M. and Tschacher, W. (2014), An Enactive and Dynamical Systems Theory Account of Dyadic Relationships. Frontiers in Psychology for Clinical Settings. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00452
Kyselo, M. and Di Paolo, E. (2013), Locked-in Syndrome: a Challenge for Embodied Cognitive Science, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. doi: 10.1007/s11097-013-9344-9
Kyselo, M. (2013), Locked-in Syndrome and Brain Computer Interfaces – Towards an Enactive Approach to the Self. Neuroethics 6: 579–591
Kyselo, M. and Walter, S. (2011), Belief Integration in Action – A Defense of Extended Beliefs. Philosophical Psychology 24 (2): 245–260
IN EDITED VOLUMES
Kyselo, M., Wilde, L. R., Brandt, T., Hanem, G., & Søraa, R. A. (2026). Beyond the Hype: Humanities Perspectives on AI. In Humanities Perspectives on AI: An Interdisciplinary Introduction(pp. 11-42). Scandinavian University Press.
Torbjørnsen, R. R., & Kyselo, M. (2026). An Introduction to the Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence. In Humanities Perspectives on AI: An Interdisciplinary Introduction (pp. 63-86). Scandinavian University Press.
Torbjørnsen, R. R., & Kyselo, M. (2026). Foundational Conceptual Issues in the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. In Humanities Perspectives on AI: An Interdisciplinary Introduction(pp. 87-110). Scandinavian University Press.
Kyselo, M. (in press). Erweiterte Kognition, Hoffmann-Kolss und Rathgeb (Hrsg.), Handbuch Philosophie des Geistes, Metzler
Kyselo, M. (2016), The Fragile Nature of the Social Mind: a commentary on Alva Noë. In Metzinger, T. and Windt, J. (Eds). Open MIND. MA: MIT press, with a response by Alva Noë
Levy, G. and Kyselo, M. (2016) Dynamic Perspectives on Defamation of Religion among Jewish NGOs, in Stensvold, A. (Hrsg.), Value politics: Religion and the UN. Routledge (in press)
Seth, A., Verschure, P., Blanke, O., Butz, M., Ford, J., Frith, C.D., Kyselo, M., McGann, M., Menary, R., Morsella, E. and O’Regan, K. (2016), Action-Oriented Understanding of Consciousness and the Structure of Experience. In Engel, A., Friston, K., Kragic, D. (Hrsg.) Ernst Strüngmann Forum Report, Where’s the Action? The Pragmatic Turn in Cognitive Science. Cambridge, MA: MIT press.
Kyselo, M. (2013), Enaktivismus. In Stephan, A. and Walter, S. (Hrsg.). Handbuch Kognitionswissenschaft, J.B. Metzler: Stuttgart: 197–202.
REVIEWS
Kyselo, M. (2018). Review of Enactive Cognition at the Edge of Sense-making by Massimiliano Cappuccio and Tom Froese (Eds.), Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 1-6
Walter, S. & Kyselo, M. (2009). Fred Adams and Kenneth Aizawa, The Bounds of Cognition. Malden, MA: Blackwell 2008. Erkenntnis 71: 277–281
Kyselo, M. & Walter, S. (2009). Andy Clark Supersizing the Mind, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2008. Philosophical Psychology 22: 803–807
Publikasjoner
Publications (click here for Google Scholar Profile)
BOOKS
Kyselo, M. (2026), The Relational Mind - An Enactive Theory of the Self, forthcoming with MIT press
Wilde, L. , Kyselo, M., Brandt, T., Hanem, G., and Søraa, R. (2026), Humanities Perspectives on AI - An Interdisciplinary Introduction, forthcoming with Scandinavian University Press.
Antonsen et al. (...) Kyselo, M. (2023): Tenk! Lærebok til Ex.Phil., Universitetsforlaget.
Kyselo, M. (2013), From Body to Self – Towards a Socially Enacted Autonomy, With Implications forLocked-in Syndrome and Schizophrenia. Osnabrück: University of Osnabrück.
ARTICLES (peer reviewed)
Kyselo, M. (in press). Art and its Resonance with Interbeing - Playing the Score of Alva Noë's The Entanglement, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences.
Kyselo, M. et al. (2026). Beyond the Hype - Humanities Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence, in Wilde et al. (eds). Humanities Perspectives on AI - An Interdisciplinary Introduction, forthcoming with Scandinavian University Press
Torbjørnsen, R. and Kyselo, M. (2026). An Introduction to the Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence, in Wilde et al. (eds). Humanities Perspectives on AI - An Interdisciplinary Introduction, forthcoming with Scandinavian University Press
Torbjørnsen, R. and Kyselo, M. (2026). Foundational Issues in the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, in Wilde et al. (eds). Humanities Perspectives on AI - An Interdisciplinary Introduction, forthcoming with Scandinavian University Press
Kyselo, M. (2026). Embodied agency and the blindspot of medical science. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11097-025-10133-z
Kyselo, M., (2023) What Self in Self-Organization? – Engaging Varela’s Epistemology for the Co-Embodied Self, Journal of Consciousness Studies, 30 (11-12), 80-103.
Galbusera, L. and Kyselo, M. (2019). The Importance of Dialogue for Schizophrenia Treatment: Conceptual Bridges Between the Open Dialogue Approach and Enactive Cognitive Science. Humana Menta 12 (36).
Galbusera, L., Finn, M. T. M., Tschacher, W., & Kyselo, M. (2019). Interpersonal synchrony feels good but impedes self-regulation of affect. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50960-0
Kyselo, M., (2019) More than our Body – Minimal and Enactive Selfhood in Global Paralysis, Neuroethics, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-019-09404-9, With a response by Dan Zahavi
Galbusera, L. and Kyselo, M. (2017). The difference that makes the difference: a conceptual analysis of the Open Dialogue approach. Psychosis, in press
Mitkidis, P., Ayal, S., Heimann, K., Kyselo, M., Levy, G., and Roepstorff, A. (2017). The Effects of Extreme Rituals on Moral Behavior: the performers-observers gap hypothesis. Journal of Economic Psychology 59 (1-7).
Kyselo, M. (2016). The Minimal Self Needs a Social Update. Philosophical Psychology, 1-9. http://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2016.1214251
Kyselo, M. (2015). The Enactive Approach and Disorders of the Self. The case of Schizophrenia. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. PHEN-D-15-00045R2
Tschacher, W., Haken, H.and Kyselo, M.(2015), Alliance: A common factor of psychotherapy modeled by structural theory. Frontiers in Psychology for Clinical Settings.
Kyselo, M. (2015). Necessarily in Between: On The Role of the Social Self in Schizophrenia Research, Commentary on Gallese, V. and Ebisch, S. Journal of Consciousness Studies 22 (1-2): 241-245
Tschacher, W., Haken, H. and Kyselo, M. (2015). Empirical and structural approaches to temporality of alliance in psychotherapy. Chaos and Complexity Letters. 9.2 : 177-191
Kyselo, M., (2014) The Body Social: An Enactive Approach to the Self. Frontiers in Cognitive Science 5. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00986
Kyselo, M. and Tschacher, W. (2014), An Enactive and Dynamical Systems Theory Account of Dyadic Relationships. Frontiers in Psychology for Clinical Settings. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00452
Kyselo, M. and Di Paolo, E. (2013), Locked-in Syndrome: a Challenge for Embodied Cognitive Science, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. doi: 10.1007/s11097-013-9344-9
Kyselo, M. (2013), Locked-in Syndrome and Brain Computer Interfaces – Towards an Enactive Approach to the Self. Neuroethics 6: 579–591
Kyselo, M. and Walter, S. (2011), Belief Integration in Action – A Defense of Extended Beliefs. Philosophical Psychology 24 (2): 245–260
IN EDITED VOLUMES
Kyselo, M. (in press). Erweiterte Kognition, Hoffmann-Kolss und Rathgeb (Hrsg.), Handbuch Philosophie des Geistes, Metzler
Kyselo, M. (2016), The Fragile Nature of the Social Mind: a commentary on Alva Noë. In Metzinger, T. and Windt, J. (Eds). Open MIND. MA: MIT press, with a response by Alva Noë
Levy, G. and Kyselo, M. (2016) Dynamic Perspectives on Defamation of Religion among Jewish NGOs, in Stensvold, A. (Hrsg.), Value politics: Religion and the UN. Routledge (in press)
Seth, A., Verschure, P., Blanke, O., Butz, M., Ford, J., Frith, C.D., Kyselo, M., McGann, M., Menary, R., Morsella, E. and O’Regan, K. (2016), Action-Oriented Understanding of Consciousness and the Structure of Experience. In Engel, A., Friston, K., Kragic, D. (Hrsg.) Ernst Strüngmann Forum Report, Where’s the Action? The Pragmatic Turn in Cognitive Science. Cambridge, MA: MIT press.
Kyselo, M. (2013), Enaktivismus. In Stephan, A. and Walter, S. (Hrsg.). Handbuch Kognitionswissenschaft, J.B. Metzler: Stuttgart: 197–202.
REVIEWS
Kyselo, M. (2018). Review of Enactive Cognition at the Edge of Sense-making by Massimiliano Cappuccio and Tom Froese (Eds.), Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 1-6
Walter, S. & Kyselo, M. (2009). Fred Adams and Kenneth Aizawa, The Bounds of Cognition. Malden, MA: Blackwell 2008. Erkenntnis 71: 277–281
Kyselo, M. & Walter, S. (2009). Andy Clark Supersizing the Mind, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2008. Philosophical Psychology 22: 803–807
2026
-
Kyselo, Miriam;
Wilde, Lukas R.A.;
Brandt, Thomas;
Hanem, Guri Ellen;
Søraa, Roger Andre.
(2026)
1. Beyond the Hype: Humanities Perspectives on AI.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
-
Wilde, Lukas R.A.;
Kyselo, Miriam;
Brandt, Thomas;
Hanem, Guri Ellen;
Søraa, Roger Andre.
(2026)
Humanities Perspectives on AI: An Interdisciplinary Introduction.
Scandinavian University Press (SCUP)
Antologi
2024
-
Kyselo, Miriam.
(2024)
Erweiterte Kognition.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
2023
-
Bøe, Solveig;
Kyselo, Miriam;
Kiran, Asle Helge.
(2023)
Natur-, teknologi- og menneskesyn.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
-
Kyselo, Miriam.
(2023)
What Self in Self-Organization? Engaging Varela’s Epistemology for the Co-embodied Self.
Journal of Consciousness Studies
Vitenskapelig artikkel
2021
-
Galbusera, Laura;
Kyselo, Miriam.
(2021)
Openness and authenticity in the open dialogue approach.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
2017
-
Levy, Gabriel;
Kyselo, Miriam.
(2017)
Dynamic Perspectives on Defamation of Religion among Jewish NGOs.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
-
Mitkidis, Panagiotis;
Ayal, Shahar;
Shalvi, Shaul;
Heimann, Katrin;
Levy, Gabriel;
Kyselo, Miriam;
Wallot, Sebastian;
Ariely, Dan;
Roepstorff, Andreas.
(2017)
The effects of extreme rituals on moral behavior: The performers-observers gap hypothesis.
Journal of Economic Psychology
Vitenskapelig artikkel
2014
-
Kyselo, Miriam.
(2014)
The body social: an enactive approach to the self.
Frontiers in Psychology
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Tidsskriftspublikasjoner
-
Kyselo, Miriam.
(2014)
The body social: an enactive approach to the self.
Frontiers in Psychology
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mitkidis, Panagiotis;
Ayal, Shahar;
Shalvi, Shaul;
Heimann, Katrin;
Levy, Gabriel;
Kyselo, Miriam;
Wallot, Sebastian;
Ariely, Dan;
Roepstorff, Andreas.
(2017)
The effects of extreme rituals on moral behavior: The performers-observers gap hypothesis.
Journal of Economic Psychology
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Kyselo, Miriam.
(2023)
What Self in Self-Organization? Engaging Varela’s Epistemology for the Co-embodied Self.
Journal of Consciousness Studies
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Bøker
-
Wilde, Lukas R.A.;
Kyselo, Miriam;
Brandt, Thomas;
Hanem, Guri Ellen;
Søraa, Roger Andre.
(2026)
Humanities Perspectives on AI: An Interdisciplinary Introduction.
Scandinavian University Press (SCUP)
Antologi
Del av bok/rapport
-
Kyselo, Miriam;
Wilde, Lukas R.A.;
Brandt, Thomas;
Hanem, Guri Ellen;
Søraa, Roger Andre.
(2026)
1. Beyond the Hype: Humanities Perspectives on AI.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
-
Levy, Gabriel;
Kyselo, Miriam.
(2017)
Dynamic Perspectives on Defamation of Religion among Jewish NGOs.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
-
Galbusera, Laura;
Kyselo, Miriam.
(2021)
Openness and authenticity in the open dialogue approach.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
-
Kyselo, Miriam.
(2024)
Erweiterte Kognition.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
-
Bøe, Solveig;
Kyselo, Miriam;
Kiran, Asle Helge.
(2023)
Natur-, teknologi- og menneskesyn.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
Formidling
2023
-
ForedragKyselo, Miriam. (2023) Interpersonal Affordances. Advanced Study Institute in Cultural Psychiatry: “The Situated Brain”