Question

Compare and contrast the work of Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas by considering their contributions to laying a foundation for Christian ethics and how do they each define "the good life"?

Answer 1

Aristotle ethics or study of character is build around the premise that people should achieve an excellent character as a pre condition for attaining happiness or well being.

According to him good life is one in which a person cultivates and exercises their rational faculties by for instance engaging in scientific enquiry,philosophical discussion,artistic creation or legislation.

Augustine says that if you identify your self as christian then familiarity with augustines thought is crutial to knowing the sources of your benefits if you recognise Christianity as an important factor in western culture and world history then knowing about augustine is vital to understanding how it came to be.

Augustine implies about good life is that this is possible because truth ,happiness on god are all linked together we need them all he says that what is a life of happiness but all men want but what men can not want? In one sense nobody wants unhappiness .nobody actually wants to be unhappy.

Aqui as observed that the formal distinction between philosophical and theoretical discourse leaves untouched what has often been the mark of one who is at once a philosopher and a believer .It is not like that on one occasion produce an argument that is philosophical and at another time one that is theological; his religious beliefs are clearly not put in escrow but are very much in evidence when he functions as a philosopher. Many of the questions that can be raised philosophically are such that the believer already holds a position on the answers to them from his religious faith.
​​​​​​According to Aristotle, and many great philosophers inspired by him, including Thomas Aquinas, a good life should involve developing certain virtues through moral behavior. Moral behavior, according to Aristotle and Aquinas, is not just about what you do, but also who you become. Good acts make for good people; it’s the egg, in other words, that comes before the chicken. So living the good life involves, at least in one part, being a moral person.