Are ants not only ‘social insects’, but also ‘nomic insects’? In search of clues of normativity in the ant world

What is it about?

Can ants follow rules? Since the middle of the last century, various philosophers have spoken of man as a ‘rule-following animal’, i.e., as an animal capable of acting in the light of norms. But is it true that man is the only rule-following animal? Recently, various studies by philosophers and ethologists have appeared where it is argued or hypothesised that there are non-human animals that are capable of normative behaviour. It is important to note that the investigation of animal normativity so far has mainly focused on mammals and, in particular, non-human primates and cetaceans. This work aims to extend this research to the world of invertebrates and, more specifically, to investigate the world of social insects, those insects that live in communities or colonies characterised by a strong social order. For the purposes of investigating whether there are traces of normativity in the world of social insects, we will focus our attention on a particular type of social insects: ants, and we will specifically question whether the behaviour of ants can be rule-following behaviour.

Featured Image