As the alert student may have noted, the mutual subjective benefits conferred by behavior in the free market are parallel to the objective benefits resulting from egoistic action, as examined in our investigation of ethics. For instance, in our traffic metaphor (p. 3.5:4), the rational egoist achieved her self-interest by acknowledging that other individuals were not means to her own ends, but rather human beings with purposes of their own. Her behavior, although motivated by self-interest, also enabled the other drivers to attain their ends. Similarly, in her exchanges with Joe and Edward, Mary obtains her highest subjective utility by observing what the other market participants value and offering them mutually advantageous exchanges.