 But the key word here is “adoption”. The view is a proposal for how to conceptualize literature (and in the long run art in general); it isn’t dictated by the facts of the case or by the very concept of literature. An alternative proposal, and a popular one in many circles, is to conceptualize literature as much more closely tied to the life of the author, and to attach greater interpretive weight to his intentions than with non-literary discourse. This proposal does bifurcate discourse, but, advocates would claim, there are cultural and aesthetic advantages to doing so. Three of them are that (1) literature is thereby tied much more closely to biography, history, and culture in general, (2) the realm of the aesthetic is not as segregated from, but is much more integrated into, other valuational realms than it would otherwise be, and (3) natural, even irrepressible, urges to look beyond art to the artist aren’t automatically frustrated or denigrated, as far as criticism is concerned. The systematic virtues and vices of both this position and Beardsley’s can’t be pursued here, but it is important to note that the issue is a large and overarching one concerning how best to conceptualize art and its place in human life.