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More oxford books @ www.OxfordeBook.comFore more urdu books visit www.4Urdu.com114FROM NOVELIST TO PHILOSOPHER, 1944–1957mingled together, as when she wondered, if perhaps, “the rational facultyis the dominant characteristic of the better species, the Superman.” 36The way Rand integrated reason into her earlier ideas demonstratedher strong drive for consistency. She labored to define reason as inextricablylinked to individuality, asserting, “The rational faculty is an attributeof the individual.” Men could share the result of their thinking butnot the process of thought itself, she argued. And since man’s survivaldepended on his own thought, individuals must be left free. Rationalitythus connected to laissez-faire capitalism, the only economic systemthat sought to maximize individual freedom.Placing rationality at the heart of her philosophy also began to shiftthe grounding of Rand’s ethics. In her early work independence hadbeen the basic criterion of value. Now she wrote, “All the actions basedon, proceeding from, in accordance with man’s nature as a rationalbeing are good. All the actions that contradict it are evil.” Rand was feelingher way toward a connection she would make explicit in later years,the equation of the moral and the rational. “In other words,” she wrote,“the intelligent man is the moral man if he acts as an intelligent man,i.e., in accordance with the nature of his rational faculty.” Even selfishness,once her primary standard of morality, was beginning to recedebehind rationality. 37After several months of intense work on “The Moral Basis ofIndividualism” Ayn and Frank made their first trip back to New York.She was eager to visit Paterson and immerse herself once more in theworld of East Coast libertarianism. Rand’s pilgrimage was part of asteady stream of traffic between conservative nodes on the East andWest Coasts. Rand had finally met Henry Hazlitt, the husband of herformer Paramount supervisor, Frances Hazlitt, when he paid a visitto California. Now that she was in New York Henry introduced her toLudwig von Mises, who had recently arrived in the United States. Mises,a gentleman of the old school who did not expect women to be intellectuals,was particularly impressed by Rand’s interest in economics. Heconsidered The Fountainhead an important contribution to their cause,telling Henry Hazlitt she was the most courageous man in America.” 38Unfazed by Mises’s sexism, Rand delighted in the compliment.On their way back from New York Rand fulfilled a long helddream and paid a visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s compound Taliesin in