Intent is a really important thing. An ant doesn't have a sense of self. An ant's brain is so incredibly tiny, that pain is registered in simplistic ways, without a complex psychology and a sense of suffering and agony. [1] But intent matters. Mor... read more
Case of Psychopathy: you watch the ant as it crawls by and you decide to kill it just for the sake of it. Yes, you've committed an act of immorality,period ! You might become a blot on humankind if you continue to live like that. Case of Indifference: You kill an Ant while you walk and you do not care. read more
Thirdly, killing ants does not do anything that infringes on another being that has moral status, and therefore an ability to assert rights that it would be immoral to break. Because of this it is a morally neutral action, and therefore permissible. Killing ants may be unpalatable, but morally there is no case against it. read more
It's not ethical to go out of your way to kill something that is doing no harm if you have no valid reason, nor is is it ethical to kill something which is rare. Killing for food, to protect ourselves (from disease spread by insects, for example), or accidentally, is not unethical. read more