Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

What is Stability?

  • Published:
Synthese Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although stability is a central notion in several academic disciplines, the parallelsremain unexplored since previous discussions of the concept have been almostexclusively subject-specific. In the literature we have found three basic conceptsof stability, that we call constancy, robustness, and resilience. They are all foundin both the natural and the social sciences. To analyze the three concepts we introducea general formal framework in which stability relates to transitions between states. Itcan then be shown that robustness is a limiting case of resilience, whereas neitherconstancy nor resilience can be defined in terms of the other. Hence, there are twobasic concepts of stability, both of which are used in both the social and the naturalsciences. This congruence in the concepts of stability is of particular interest forendeavours to construct models that represent both natural and social phenomena.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Akerlof, George A. and Janet L. Yellen: 1985, ‘Can Small Deviations from Rationality Make Significant Differences to Economic Equilibria?’, The American Economic Review 75, 708–720.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold, Roger A.: 1998, Microeconomics, South-Western College Publishing, 4th ed.

  • Baigrie, Brian S. and J. N. Hattiangadi: 1992, ‘On Consensus and Stability in Science’, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 43, 435–458.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benassy, Jean-Pascal: 1989, ‘Disequilibrium Analysis’, in John Eatwell, Murray Milgate and Peter Newman (eds), The New Palgrave on General Equilibrium, MacMillan Reference Books, pp. 120–130.

  • Boulding, Kenneth E.: 1978, Stable Peace, University of Texas Press.

  • Bratman, Michael: 1983, ‘Taking Plans Seriously’, Social Theory and Practice 9, 271–288.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clausen, Volker: 1988, ‘Money Demand and Monetary Policy in Europe’, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv/Review of World Economics 134, 712–740.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colinvaux, Paul: 1986, Ecology, John Wiley & Sons.

  • Connell, Joseph H. and Wayne P. Sousa: 1983, ‘On the Evidence Needed to Judge Ecological Stability or Persistence’, The American Naturalist 121, 789–824.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornwall, John: 1972, Growth and Stability in a Mature Economy, Martin Robertson & Company.

  • Deevey, Edward S.: 1969, ‘Specific Diversity in Fossil Assemblages’, in Diversity and Stability in Ecological Systems.

  • Ellen, Ingrid Gould: 1998, ‘Stable Racial Integration in the Contemporary United States: An Empirical Overview’, Journal of Urban Affairs 20, 27–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Golley, F. B.: 1974, 'Structural and Functional Properties as They Influence Ecosystem Stability, in Proc. First Int. Congr. Ecol. PUDOC, Wageningen, pp. 97–102.

  • Gravelle, Hugh and Ray Rees: 1992, Microeconomics, Longman, second ed.

  • Grofman, Bernard and Carole Uhlaner: 1985, ‘Metapreferences and the Reasons for Stability in Social Choice: Thoughts on Broadening and Clarifying the Debate’, Theory and Decision 19, 31–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansson, Sven Ove: 1992, ‘Similarity Semantics and Minimal Changes of Belief’, Erkenntnis 37, 401–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansson, Sven Ove: 1999, A Textbook of Belief Dynamics. Theory Change and Database Updating, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansson, Sven Ove: 2001, The Structure of Values and Norms, Cambridge University Press.

  • Heffernan, James D.: 1982, ‘The Land Ethic: A Critical Appraisal’, Environmental Ethics 4, 235–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hickman, Bert G.: 1960, Growth and Stability of the Postwar Economy, The Brookings Inst.

  • Holling, Crawford S.: 1969, ‘Stability in Ecological and Social System’, in Diversity and Stability in Ecological Systems.

  • Jacobs, Jürgen: 1975, ‘Diversity, Stability and Maturity in Ecosystems Influenced by Human Activities’, in W. H. VanDobben and R. H. Lowe-McConnell (eds), Unifying Concepts in Ecology, pp. 187–207.

  • Joosten, Reinoud: 1996, ‘Deterministic Evolutionary Dynamics: A Unifying Approach’, Journal of Evolutionary Economics 6, 313–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilgour, D.Marc: 1984, ‘Equilibria for Far-Sighted Player’, Theory and Decision 16, 135–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohlberg, Elon and Jean-Francois Mertens: 1986, ‘On the Strategic Stability of Equilibria’, Econometrica 54, 1003–1037.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemons, John: 1981, ‘Cooperation and Stability as a Basis for Environmental Ethics’, Environmental Ethics 3, 219–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leopold, Aldo: 1968, A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There, Oxford University Press.

  • Lewontin, Richard C.: 1969, ‘The Meaning of Stability’, in G. Woodwell and H. Smith (eds), Diversity and Stability in Ecological Systems, Brookhaven Laboratory Publication No. 22, pp. 13–23.

  • Maier, Charles S.: 1987, In Search of Stability: Explorations in Historical Political Economy, Cambridge University Press.

  • Mankiw, N. Gregory: 1998, Principles of Economics, The Dryden Press.

  • Margalef, Ramón: 1969, ‘Diversity and Stability: A Practical Proposal and a Model of Interdependence’, in G. Woodwell and H. Smith (eds), Diversity and Stability in Ecological Systems, Brookhaven Laboratory Publication No. 22, pp. 25–37.

  • Marshall, Alfred: 1949, Principles of Economics, MacMillan and Co., 8th ed., 1920, pr. 1949; 1890.

  • Mas-Colell, Andreu, Michael D. Whinston, and Jerry R. Green: 1995, Microeconomic Theory, Oxford University Press.

  • Matsui, Akihiko: 1992, ‘Best Response Dynamics and Socially Stable Strategies’, Journal of Economic Theory 57, 343–362.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClennen, Edward F.: 1989, ‘Justice and the Problem of Stability’, Philosophy & Public Affairs 18, 3–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCoy, E. D. and Kristin Shrader-Frechette: ‘Community Ecology, Scale, and the Instability of the Stability Concept’, Philosophy of Science Association 1, 184–199.

  • McKenzie, Lionel W.: 1989, ‘General Equilibrium’, in John Eatwell, Murray Milgate and Peter Newman (eds), The New Palgrave on General Equilibrium, MacMillan Reference Books, pp. 1-35.

  • Miller, W. B. Jr., G. Tyler: 1979, Living in the Environment, second ed., Wadsworth.

  • Odum, Eugene P.: 1971, Fundamentals of Ecology, 3rd ed., W. B. Saunders.

  • Orians, Gordon H.: 1975, ‘Diversity, Stability and Maturity in Natural Ecosystems’, in W. H. VanDobben and R. H. Lowe-McConnell (eds), Unifying Concepts in Ecology, pp. 139–150.

  • Pimm, Stuart L.: 1984, ‘The Complexity and Stability of Ecosystems’, Nature 307, 321–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Preston, F. W.: 1969, ‘Diversity and Stability in the Biological World’, in G. Woodwell and H. Smith (eds), Diversity and Stability in Ecological Systems, Brookhaven Laboratory Publication No. 22, pp. 1–12.

  • Samuelson, Paul A.: 1983, Foundations of Economic Analysis, Harvard University Press (enlarged edition).

  • Samuelson, Larry and Jianbo Zhang: 1992, ‘Evolutionary Stability in Asymmetric Games’, Journal of Economic Theory 57, 363–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sober, Elliott: 1983, ‘Equilibrium Explanation’, Philosophical Studies 43, 201–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suppes, Patrick: 1985, ‘Explaining the Unpredictable’, Erkenntnis 22, 187–195.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorn, C. E. and M. R. Welford: 1994, ‘The Equilibrium Concept in Geomorphology’, Annals of the Association of American Geographers 84, 666–696.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ullmann-Margalit, Edna: 1977, The Emergence of Norms, Clarendon Press.

  • Westman, Walter E.: 1978, ‘Measuring the Inertia and Resilience of Ecosystems’, Bio-Science 28, 705–710.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittaker, R. H.: 1974, ‘“Stability” in Plant Communities’, in Structure, Functioning and Management of Ecosystems, Proc. First Int. Congr. Ecol. PUDOC, Wageningen, p. 68.

  • Williamson, T.: 1988, ‘First-Order Logics for Comparative Similarity’, Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic 29, 457–481.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden E-mail

    S. O. Hansson

  2. G. Helgesson, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    G. Helgesson

Authors
  1. S. O. Hansson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. G. Helgesson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hansson, S.O., Helgesson, G. What is Stability?. Synthese 136, 219–235 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024733424521

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024733424521

Keywords

Search

Navigation