by Rodrigo Ballon Villanueva
Sam Pell
September 2023 – We are back from our summer break introducing you to Samuel Pell! Sam is a PhD Candidate in Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He holds a BA in Chemistry and Classics from Cornell University (2013) and an MA in Philosophy from Purdue University (2022). He is hoping to write a dissertation under Therese Cory on ‘confused cognition’ in Aquinas. A case of confused cognition, for instance, is that by which we define man to be a teachable animal that can laugh. Sam thinks Aquinas’ account of confused cognitions sheds light on his metaphysics of cognition more generally.
For Sam, Aquinas takes intelligible species to be a kind of first actuality or disposition to think about a certain kind of object, which can attain second actuality in increasing degrees as one becomes more familiar with that object. He is interested in tracing the origins of Aquinas’ account from Avicenna’s notion of ‘vague individual’ (individuum vagum) through Albert the Great’s emanationist metaphysics, noting the ways Aquinas adopts and adapts his sources to his own purposes. Additionally, Sam aims to trace the reception of Aquinas’ account by later Thomists, who took his cognitional theory in a less metaphysical, more representationalist direction.
Sam is also interested in medieval and Aristotelian theories of colour and visual perception. He is currently working on a project explicating Albert the Great’s view, as well as a project defending the contemporary relevance of a broadly Aristotelian approach against Miles Burnyeat. Sam has published two articles on metaethics and moral epistemology, respectively. Do you want to know more about Sam’s work? Visit his website!
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