Evolutionary game theory originated as an application of the mathematical theory of games to biological contexts, arising from the realization that frequency dependent fitness introduces a strategic aspect to evolution. Recently, however, evolutionary game theory has become of increased interest to economists, sociologists, and anthropologists--and social scientists in general--as well as philosophers.
Ever since Darwin read Malthus, the theory of evolution has benefited from the interaction of ecology with economics. Evolutionary game theory belongs to this tradition: it merges population ecology with game theory.
Evolutionary game theory is a way of thinking about evolution at the phenotypic level when the fitnesses of particular phenotypes depend on their frequencies in the population.
Current evolutionary game theory — where ideas from evolutionary biology and rationalistic economics meet — emphasizing the links between static and dynamic approaches and noncooperative game theory.