Aizan YAMAJI's views on literature can be found in a critical essay titled 'What Does It Mean to Benefit Mankind?' by Tokoku KITAMURA, which was carried in "Kokumin no tomo" magazine in 1893 and became the source of dispute between Yamaji and Kitamura.
山路愛山の文学観は、明治26年（1893年）に『國民の友』誌上で北村透谷との間に展開された、「人生に相渉るとは何の謂ぞ」という論争に見られる。