In our study of the four cardinal virtues we have been learning many ideas and theories on how to live "the good life." It was very difficult in the beginning of this semester to define what "the good life" means. After studying the virtues and their theories it became very clear to us what "the good life" is all about. Josef Pieper, the author of the book we have been studying, has made it very simple to understand how to be a good human being. Christian thinking and morality has played a major role in the understanding of the four virtues. The so-called four cardinal virtues that we have been studying are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. According to Pieper these four virtues are the key elements in trying to achieve the highest good. Pieper believes that these virtues are necessary in order for a human being to fulfill the Christian image of man. These virtues exercise a person's moral, spiritual, emotional, and physical self. Every virtue has its own importance with prudence being the most important, or mother of all virtues. The order of importance of these virtues is as follows, from most to least important: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. To study these virtues we began with the virtue of prudence and worked our way down. We began to realize that these virtues are very dependent on the virtues that are above in importance. For example, fortitude depends on prudence and justice. You cannot have fortitude without first achieving prudence and justice. This distinction makes these virtues very interesting and as a result presents a strong case as to why they are crucial for human beings to possess. The ability to attain all of these virtues is something that all humans should strive for because it would be to the best for society. In the following I will analyze each virtue separately and show how they all tie together to form the "Christian image ...