Exploring the questions of what insects are and what scientific, aesthetic, ethical, and historical relationships they have with humanity, Jean-Marc Drouin argues that insects force humans to reconsider their 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. Caught between the animal and plant kingdoms, insects force humans to confront and reevaluate 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.