 So much for non-literary discourse. The second question is: Does what holds for non-literary discourse also hold for literary discourse? Beardsley’s convinced that it does. He sees no fundamental difference between the two. There’s a lot to be said for that view. It largely jibes with our interpretive experience and recognizes the continuity of all forms of discourse. It also doesn’t require us to read by a new set of rules when we put down The Racing Forum and pick up Ruskin, which is certainly appealing. Those are impressive reasons in its favor, and strongly recommend it for adoption.