EAST LANSING, Mich., July 26 (UPI) -- A Michigan State professor has received a $75,000 grant to translate unpublished writings of 18th century German political philosopher Immanuel Kant.
Fred Rauscher said he expects few people will be interested in his translation of lecture notes taken by a student of Kant, who defended the rights of the individual.
"My mother and my sister both tried to read some of the stuff I've written," Rauscher told the Lansing (Mich.) State Journal. "They tend to stop after one page."
A spokesman for the National Endowment for the Humanities said its $75,000 translation grant "will certainly broaden the impact of Kant's philosophy and teachings" on U.S. scholars.
Rauscher said Kant's thinking applies to today's problems -- from Supreme Court nominees to displaying the Ten Commandments.
"If someone is thinking about it and writing about it and talking about it, then it's still alive, then the culture of yesterday is still speaking to people today," Rauscher said.
