CAN EVOLUTIONARILY STABLE STRATEGIES EXIST

Since its pioneering proposal by Maynard Smith and Price, the concept of an 'evolutionarily stable strategy' (ESS) has been invaluable to evolutionary thinking. We identify several problems surrounding the concept of an ESS. Most importantly, we find a conceptual inconsistency in the term ESS itself. We make a plea for a conceptual refinement and a standard terminology. To resolve the problems in definitions and terminology we suggest that, in place of ESS, the term 'evolutionarily stable population' (ESP) be adopted as defined in the paper.