The “domination of Nützlichkeit” since the Enlightenment movement has triggered a reflection on Enlightenment rationalism and opened up the critique of modernity based on the critique of Nützlichkeit.The critique of Nützlichkeit from Hegel to young Marx follows the theoretical model of “split-integration” of modernity under the binary relationship of “subject-object”, integrating the split of modernity through the self-restoration movement of “origin-purpose” of a self-conscious subject. Constrained by the binary paradigm of “subject-object”, the critique of instrumental reason of the Frankfurt School inherently defines the depth and limitation of the critique of Nützlichkeit. In this regard, it is necessary to re-examine the critique of political economy of Marx’s Das Kapital and its manuscripts, and reconstruct the “critique of Nützlichkeit and subject-object alienation” into the structured version of capital logic, integrating the dual dimensions of “critique of Nützlichkeit and subject-object alienation” and “the critique of the intersubjective Versachlichung”, breaking through the subjectivity dilemma of the critique of Nützlichkeit, and expanding the contemporary perspective of the critique of modernity. Furthermore, on the basis of transcending the critique of Nützlichkeit in the Enlightenment, it is necessary to look forward to the “new Nützlichkeit” of future society from a structured perspective of dividing the realm of necessity and the realm of freedom, and explore the future direction of the new relationship between the subject and Nützlichkeit.

　　Editor: Zhong Yao  Deng Panyi

　　From: Teaching and Research. 2025.No.1.