ABSTRACT
In this article we intend to determine what Kierkegaard knew about Thomas Aquinas. But we must warn that if by “knowing” we understand having adequate objective information about an author, then this would be a very short article indeed since in this sense Kierkegaard did not “know” very much about Thomas Aquinas. Kierkegaard did not own any of Aquinas’ books, most certainly he did not read any of them, and it is quite possible that he did not know what one of them looked like. But the fact that Kierkegaard did not read Thomas is no accident but rather a result of what Kierkegaard thought he knew about Aquinas. Through his teachers and readings, Kierkegaard received an image of Aquinas that was, among other things, one reason for his lack of interest in reading Aquinas. Our objective is then to determine the sources that could have helped to forge the image that Kierkegaard had of Aquinas, and try to determine the main elements of this image. Consequently, we will neither try to establish any agreements or disagreements between Aquinas and Kierkegaard, nor try to defend one point of view or the other.1 This is a historical article more than a philosophical one; and only in specific instances will we attempt to show if the image that Kierkegaard received in fact corresponded to what Aquinas was actually saying in order to make clear what difference it would have made if Kierkegaard had actually read Aquinas.
