There is nothing wrong with reading with a little utilitarianism. In this materialistic society, no one says that I don’t have a little bit of utilitarianism in reading. I just like reading and enjoy the process of reading. Most people hope that reading can improve themselves. Reading literature books is to improve their humanistic qualities, reading social science books is to make their thinking more profound, and reading various professional books is obviously to gain knowledge. Good grades for further studies. At the same time, supporters believe that if you study with a utilitarian mentality, the "utilitarian mentality" will eventually be reflected in the results, so the process of reading can actually be unaffected. In other words, if you read with a utilitarian mind, you can still enjoy the pleasure of reading and the joy of communicating with the author's thoughts.

However, opponents don’t think so. They believe that reading is actually a very pure thing. If you read a book with a utilitarian mind, you will pay more attention to the benefits that reading this book will bring to you. Moreover, many times, utilitarianism is not reflected in reading, but more in choosing books. For example, there is a question on Zhihu called "Is it good to read a lot of literary books?" Most of the answers are that it is not recommended to read a lot of literary books. Because they believe that reading literary books cannot improve themselves faster and more effectively, and if they read a lot of literary books, it is better to use this time to read those thoughtful books that can improve their thinking level by a level after reading them. Social science books. This well illustrates that if people read with utilitarianism, they will be filled with utilitarianism when they first choose books, and then reading will be worldly and impetuous. Therefore, opponents believe that utilitarian reading is a product of this impetuous era and is a pathological way of reading.

Actually, I want to say that since neither side can convince the other, they must both have some truth. Let’s explore this issue from the root of the problem. What can be called "reading with a utilitarian mind"? It is not difficult to understand that reading with a strong purpose in order to achieve a certain achievement is a very purposeful way of reading. Therefore, the extreme form of utilitarianism is to read teaching aids and professional books. However, let us think about it again, is there no purpose in reading? Of course not. So what about those so-called "reading without utilitarianism" reading methods? Whenever I think of this, a picture often appears in my mind: On a rainy day, light rain is falling, and a person is sitting on the edge of the window, listening to the sound of rain, smelling the smell of earth, sipping the coffee on the table, and reading in his hand. book. This is probably the attitude I imagined of a scholar who abandons the secular atmosphere. Such scenes always give people a feeling of tranquility and peace, but don't such scholars read with purpose? Of course not. What he longs for is that reading can cultivate his own sentiment, that reading can bring poetry to his life, and that reading is enough to cultivate his moral character. So since it has a purpose, does it count as reading with a utilitarian mind? If the utilitarian reading we have been discussing before is a kind of material utility, then I think what we are talking about now is a spiritual utility. However, the latter is obviously more popular.