The article analyzes some fundamental themes of Canals’s gnoseology that have their inspiration in the thought of John Poinsot (John of St. Thomas). In his mature work Sobre la esencia del conocimiento, Canals highlights the locutionary character of knowledge, as a consequence of the communicative nature of the act. The article examines the communicability and immanence of cognition, and attempts to develop a correct understanding of the notion of representation. This study is supplemented with a brief mention of Polo and Sanguineti in their explanations of intentionality and habit, respectively.