Knowledge, Nature, and Norms

This was my book for Philosophy 101. I thoroughly enjoyed the class (though maybe mostly because the teacher rocked). This book starts off each section and chapter with commentary on the topic and authors that follow. This thematic (as opposed to chronological) style of teaching philosophy works great. It allows you to directly compare and contrast what different philosophers thought about topics. Also unlike many textbooks the texts of this books are direct passages from the philosophers themselves! I prefer this to the summary of a philosopher's ideas, but at times it can be a hard and thick read.