 The second point concerns the distinction between direct and indirect evidence drawn by Beardsley. A diary entry is direct evidence of what the artist intended his work to mean; the artist’s intention is indirect evidence of what his work means. But why the difference? In both cases, the relation between the items is causal, yet in one the evidence is direct, and in the other indirect. If a diary entry is direct evidence of an artist’s intention (reasoning from an effect to a cause), then the artist’s intention ought to be direct evidence of what his work means (reasoning from a cause to an effect). That’s a conclusion Beardsley certainly wants to avoid. If, on the other hand, the artist’s intention is indirect evidence of what his work means (reasoning, as just noted, from a cause to an effect), then a diary entry ought to be indirect evidence of what he intended (reasoning, again as just noted, from an effect to a cause).