Aristotle and St. Augustine both have a very beautiful outlook on how to live a good life. Aristotle explains in his books that to have a "good" life one must achieve happiness. At the same time Augustine proclaims in his book that one must be at peace to achieve happiness. After reading the work of these two authors I found that their work goes hand in hand.
             In investigating Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics, it is important to remember that just like the Physics, it is a teleological view, not on the natural world, but on human nature, the end (telos) of which is the "good." Everything that humans do is aimed at some end, and this end can either have intrinsic or extrinsic worth. This is to say that the acts of humans can either be done for themselves (intrinsic) or can be done as a means to something else (extrinsic). The underlying goal of all our action, Aristotle calls the "good", but along with the "good," comes happiness. For Aristotle, then, all humans are just trying to be happy. (Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics)
             The good life, then, is a life of happiness. Aristotle says such a life can be achieved by excellence (arete) in two areas of virtue: intellectual and moral. First, we will have to analyze moral virtue in order to understand fully the notion of intellectual virtue. More or less, for Aristotle, the life of moral virtue, not being an exact science, is a life of moderation. This is a common theme with most all the ancient philosophers and authors (especially the playwrights). It is practical wisdom which is not "a priori," but rather it is a learned trade which varies from situation to situation; it can not be taught, it must be learned from experience. What, then, exactly is moral virtue? It is acting in accordance with our nature and our striving towards the "good," by means of moderate actions in everyday life. Knowing this practical type of r...