Ars Erotica looks at the way in which perceptions of the erotic and its expressions have changed at turning points in Western history - how the interplay of repression and permissiveness has affected art and literature.

The social course of sexuality is revealed in the erotic poetry and prose of writers from ancient times through the present, including John Donne, Pablo Neruda, the Marquis de Sade, e.e. cummings, and many anonymous writers.

Arousing art of all periods and mediums - images illustrating the Kama Sutra and Japanese scrolls, the engravings of Marcantonio Raimondi, the paintings of Watteau and Manet, Edward Munch's Puberty, the photography of Arthur Tress, and the work of Aubrey Beardsley, David Hockney, Andres Serrano, and many others - illustrates the theme of each chapter. Contemporaneous social and critical reactions to this art and literature are discussed, and debates are presented on the timeless issue of pornography.