I don’t think revealed preferences make philosophical sense in any context. If the enitity in question has an emotional reaction to its preference then that emotional reaction seems like an integral part of what matters. If it has no such emotional reaction then it seems presumptive to the point of being unparsable to say that it was revealing a preference for ‘not swarming’ vs, say ‘staying with an uncoordinated group that can therefore never spontaneously leave’ or still more abstract notions.
I don’t think revealed preferences make philosophical sense in any context. If the enitity in question has an emotional reaction to its preference then that emotional reaction seems like an integral part of what matters. If it has no such emotional reaction then it seems presumptive to the point of being unparsable to say that it was revealing a preference for ‘not swarming’ vs, say ‘staying with an uncoordinated group that can therefore never spontaneously leave’ or still more abstract notions.