In July 2022, Prometheus Foundation granted a young Italian student, Lisa Kinspherger, a scholarship to study for an MA in Political Science at Duke University, beginning in fall 2022. This is a two-year program focused on two areas of specialization: Normative Political Theory and Philosophy and Political Economy.
Lisa explains that she chose these two fields because she learned during her undergraduate studies “that people tend to separate politics and economics from philosophy. Instead, they must not be separated. Capitalism, without a philosophical base cannot prosper and survive long-run, and politics without philosophical principles based on individual freedom will bring about coercion and disruption.”
Academically, she wants to address whether rational egoism is compatible with freedom and the modern State, and more specifically whether self-interest at odds with collective choices that do not subvert or interfere with our “hierarchy of values.”
Most recently, Lisa was awarded the 2023 XV Vernon Smith Prize. But even her undergraduate thesis on “Rand vs. Anti Randians: Responses to Major Criticisms of Rational Egoism,” was selected to be presented at three international conferences in 2022: the Swiss Political Science Association (SPSA) annual conference, the London School of Economics Undergraduate Political Review Conference, and the 26th Annual SUNY Oneonta Undergraduate Philosophy Conference.
Lisa’s supervisors at Duke are Professors Richard Salsman and Michael Munger.
In her free time, Lisa works with Bruno Leoni Institute (another Prometheus Network member) on various podcasts that promote Rand’s ideas. They recently published the Italian edition of Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, which Lisa helped bring to fruition.
