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Contrary to John Womack's posting, it is unclear that "equilibrium" is in 
any important sense a metaphor borrowed from physical sciences.  The 
earliest citation in Oxford English Dictionary of "equilibrium" in a 
physical sense is from Boyle in 1660.  It reports citations using it in 
mental, psychological, and moral senses that are nearly contemporaneous 
(1675) in one case and substantially earlier (1608) in another.  Dictionary 
entries don't decide such a matter, but they provide a clue.  I suspect 
that, in this case, as in many others ("circulation" being another example) 
our excessive awe of modern sciences leads us to conjectures that would not 
stand up to close scrutiny. 
 
Kevin Hoover 
 
 
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