What is philosophy, based on Augustine's City of God, Bk. VIII, ch.4?

Philosophy for Augustine based on book VII, chapter 4 of "City of God" is to be excellent or find the excellence in all things.  To be excellent means that one is able to know the goal of his actions, the cause of existence and the reason for understanding.

To be excellent, according to Augustine, means that one has to live both an active and contemplative life. An active life is having a conduct of life or a way of life. A contemplative life, on the other hand, is inquiring to the cause of nature and pure truth and knowing the ultimate reason for existence. These two types of life that had to be lived is drawn as one by Augustine. To be excellent is to live this kind of life.

Now, this kind of life is further subdivided into three parts. To be excellent is to live a life that concerns to moral, natural and rational aspects of life. The moral aspect pertains to the active life while the natural and rational pertains to the contemplative life.

What does Augustine mean by these aspects of life? To be excellent is to have an end in reference to which the whole life is to be regulated (moral aspect). This means that one has to have a goal in life. He/she must be able to know what he/she wants to attain. To be excellent is to find the cause of nature (natural aspect). One must find an explanation about the things happening around him/her. He/she must know the nature of these things. To be excellent is to be able to distinguish which is true and not true (rational aspect). One must be able to discover the truth that is certain to him/her.

Later in the chapter, Augustine interprets that the end of actions, cause of nature and the reason for knowing true from not true is God. This means to say that God is the excellent Being that is sought by a person. He is the one that a person wanted to know the most. He is that excellent being that one studies or seeks understanding. The kind of life Augustine presented leads to the understanding of God.

Augustine’s Philosophy based on book VIII, chapter 4 of "City of God" is to be excellent. This is to live an active and contemplative life which is further specified to three divisions which are to know the end of actions, to identify the cause of nature and to discover the reason for knowing true from not true. All these strive to be excellent leads to the realization that the end of actions, the cause of nature and the reason for knowing true from not true is God. To be excellent is to know God.

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Source:

Schaff, P. (1896). Augustine on Ancient Philosophy (M. Dods, Trans.).

      In Klima, G., Allhoff, F., & Vaidya, A. (Ed.). Medieval

      Philosophy: Essential Readings with Commentary

      (pp. 33-34). Blackwell Publishing: Australia.