Happiness: Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas Dr. Bhadra Sweta Guha Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Bijoy Krishna Girls‘ College, Howrah, West Bengal, India, Email: guhasweta@gmail.com Online published on 13 June, 2019. Abstract The great thinkers of medieval philosophers are theologians. In this period, the factor which influences philosophy is the Christian religion. In order to understand medieval philosophy, one has to understand the intellectual background of the medieval mind and one must be aware of Aristotelian philosophy. Here, I would discuss the combination of Aristotelian view with Christian philosophy, prominent in St. Thomas Aquinas' doctrine. Following Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Aquinas considers the ultimate end of human life as happiness. This happiness consists in accordance with virtue and this is not to be equated with pleasure, honor etc. It is found in contemplation of the essence of God. All things are directed to the highest good i.e. God as the end. God, the cause of goodness is supremely the end of all things. Though influenced by Aristotle, there are differences among them. What Aristotle calls happiness, Aquinas calls imperfect one and he introduces consideration of the next life. The moral law is ultimately founded on the divine essence itself and so cannot be changed. God wills its certainty, but it does not depend on any arbitrary act of the divine will. Top Keywords Aquinas, Aristotle, happiness, faith, morality. Top |