What do you think?
Rate this book
A Philosophy of the Insect
The world of insects is at once beneath our feet and unfathomably alien. Small and innumerable, insects surround and disrupt us even as we scarcely pay them any mind. Insects confront us with the limits of what is imaginable, while at the same time being essential to the everyday functioning of all terrestrial ecosystems.
In this book, the philosopher and historian of science Jean-Marc Drouin contends that insects pose a fundamental challenge to philosophy. Exploring the questions of what insects are and what scientific, aesthetic, ethical, and historical relationships they have with humanity, he argues that they force us to reconsider our ideas of the animal and the social. He traces the role that insects have played in language, mythology, literature, entomology, sociobiology, and taxonomy over the centuries. Drouin emphasizes the links between humanistic and scientific approaches―how we have projected human roles onto insects and seen ourselves in insect form. Caught between the animal and plant kingdoms, insects force us to confront and reevaluate our notions of gender, family, society, struggle, the division of labor, social organization, and individual and collective intelligence. A remarkably original and thought-provoking work, A Philosophy of the Insect is an important book for animal studies, environmental ethics, and the history and philosophy of science.
In this book, the philosopher and historian of science Jean-Marc Drouin contends that insects pose a fundamental challenge to philosophy. Exploring the questions of what insects are and what scientific, aesthetic, ethical, and historical relationships they have with humanity, he argues that they force us to reconsider our ideas of the animal and the social. He traces the role that insects have played in language, mythology, literature, entomology, sociobiology, and taxonomy over the centuries. Drouin emphasizes the links between humanistic and scientific approaches―how we have projected human roles onto insects and seen ourselves in insect form. Caught between the animal and plant kingdoms, insects force us to confront and reevaluate our notions of gender, family, society, struggle, the division of labor, social organization, and individual and collective intelligence. A remarkably original and thought-provoking work, A Philosophy of the Insect is an important book for animal studies, environmental ethics, and the history and philosophy of science.
- GenresNonfictionPhilosophy
240 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2019
2 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 16, 2022
As a person who is more an entomologist than philosophy reader, a philosophy of the insect is more disappointing than it might be for a philosophy student, but i find it disappointing in that way too.
The impression i had going in was that i was in for philosophy derived from arthropod biology and behavior, the esoteric knowledge that could be deemed from insect swarm logic, metamorphosis and how we could apply the idea to philosophical ends, the elegance of arthropod animal's brutality and lack of navel gazing introspection at critical moments, you know: philosophy informed by insect behavior.
What i got was mostly philosophical ideas tangentially related to insects by how they could relate to that. The scale equivalency of a flea jumping 100 times it's body length scaled up to what that would be like for a human when discussing ideas of scale, and why it's a false equivalency, is one example.
The application of genomic phylogenetic techniques to refiine animal classification is another, using insect phylogeny as the example, even though this can be applied to any animal group. Oh sure it was applied to insects FIRST, but it's first use is hardly analogous to it's prime use.
But primarily insects are the plate on which the philosophical esoteric concepts are served, more than the focus of the philosophy or prime examplars of it.
Im only half way through the phylogenetic chapter, but this has been so thoroughly consistent that if suddenly in the second half they flip a 180 and actually start talking about how insects could illustrate the best way to live in the moment, of exemplifying survival drives beyond what logically is a limit for us, i would be pleasantly surprised.
But i doubt that's where this is going.
Rather i suspect that the author had an assortment of topics they had nowhere else to put, so they contrived how it all relates to bugs and put it in a single grab bag book of philosophical slurry. Is that harsh? Probably yes.
But i was promised philosophy of insects, not random philosophy with insects as an excuse and running illustrative sub-theme, and it kind of pisses me off. I wanted to like this book. The best it's done is to inspire me to try and philosophize what the title insinuated and try to come up with philosophy derived from insects, instead of what this is.
TL;DR: it's not really a book about bug philosophy, it's a philosophy student's random notes from youtube videos with bugs as the excuse, but never the stars.
The impression i had going in was that i was in for philosophy derived from arthropod biology and behavior, the esoteric knowledge that could be deemed from insect swarm logic, metamorphosis and how we could apply the idea to philosophical ends, the elegance of arthropod animal's brutality and lack of navel gazing introspection at critical moments, you know: philosophy informed by insect behavior.
What i got was mostly philosophical ideas tangentially related to insects by how they could relate to that. The scale equivalency of a flea jumping 100 times it's body length scaled up to what that would be like for a human when discussing ideas of scale, and why it's a false equivalency, is one example.
The application of genomic phylogenetic techniques to refiine animal classification is another, using insect phylogeny as the example, even though this can be applied to any animal group. Oh sure it was applied to insects FIRST, but it's first use is hardly analogous to it's prime use.
But primarily insects are the plate on which the philosophical esoteric concepts are served, more than the focus of the philosophy or prime examplars of it.
Im only half way through the phylogenetic chapter, but this has been so thoroughly consistent that if suddenly in the second half they flip a 180 and actually start talking about how insects could illustrate the best way to live in the moment, of exemplifying survival drives beyond what logically is a limit for us, i would be pleasantly surprised.
But i doubt that's where this is going.
Rather i suspect that the author had an assortment of topics they had nowhere else to put, so they contrived how it all relates to bugs and put it in a single grab bag book of philosophical slurry. Is that harsh? Probably yes.
But i was promised philosophy of insects, not random philosophy with insects as an excuse and running illustrative sub-theme, and it kind of pisses me off. I wanted to like this book. The best it's done is to inspire me to try and philosophize what the title insinuated and try to come up with philosophy derived from insects, instead of what this is.
TL;DR: it's not really a book about bug philosophy, it's a philosophy student's random notes from youtube videos with bugs as the excuse, but never the stars.
December 25, 2020
I loved this book. such a refreshing reflection on how humans think of insects and what that teaches us about ourselves
February 27, 2021
**The low rating is mostly due to the writing rather than the topic. This book had a lot of potential, maybe one day I'll find a book that does it better, I'd be interested to visit the subject again.** I wanted to read this because insects make me squeamish, but thought if I could read philosophical discussions about them, I might become more comfortable-- or at least appreciate them more. The problem was that the book was mostly comprised of quotes from philosophers, researchers, etc. connected by some transition sentences. It was dry to read and would have benefited from the author synthesizing ideas himself to create a more cohesive narrative. Hard as I tried, my eyes would start to droop and I spent a lot of time rereading parts. Not that the material didn't have potential to be interesting, it was more a matter of feeling inaccessible. It did open my eyes to some new ways to view insects, but wish there was more discussion around the points made, that they weren't just presented in a quote and quickly moved on from. I'm glad I read it for the new lens I can use to look at the insect world around me, but the text itself was tough to invest in.
July 7, 2025
A series of eight essays contemplating relationships between humans and insects, some historical and some philosophical. Drouin does not shy away from the paradoxes of insect otherness, but he tends to take a detached view and doesn't commit to any ethical implications. It's a book or reportage, enjoyable and not too deep.
April 2, 2020
An important read providing a deep philosophical and historical overview of the construction and de-construction of insects throughout the ages in Europe.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews