I work on medieval philosophy of mind, with a focus on intentionality and animal cognition in thirteenth-century Oxford philosophical thought. During my fellowship at the Human Abilities Centre, I am investigating the relationship between the intellect and the inner senses in the works of Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon.

I argue that these two authors present contrasting models of how rationality interacts with perception. For Aquinas, the intellect transforms the inner senses, shaping both their operation and their content. For Bacon, by contrast, the perceptual faculties function independently of intellectual influence, guided by their own principles.

These two models illustrate the range of possibilities developed in the Middle Ages for understanding perception and rationality. I aim to show that each model also offers conceptual resources for accounting for the unity of perception.

My time at the Human Abilities Centre will allow me to develop this approach into a publishable paper.