This volume contains a classical, intellectually sound set of philosophical selections on sexuality and sexual love. It is historically ordered using selections from the major figures in Western thought from Plato to the present in order to show the derivation of our current Western attitudes toward this topic. In the thought of these philosophers lie the origins of our contemporary views of sex. This book presents a broad picture of some of what has been thought about sex and sexual morality over the ages. Consideration of the issues and ideas raised in this book is necessary to an understanding of contemporary arguments that assume much of this history, and often assume it quite selectively. The power of this collection of writings is in its simplicity and its imagination -- the fundamental thoughts against which any view of sexual love must be formed are contained in this book.