They have learned responsibility, but find it too demanding, and so seek refuge in conformity and traditional values. These are not stages in the traditional sense. On the other hand, he is every bit as interested in anxiety as any existentialist. His first book, The Meaning of Anxiety , was based on his doctoral dissertation, which in turn was based on his reading of Kierkegaard. While not pure existentialism, it does obviously include fear of death or nothingness.
Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.
Love and Will Many of May s unique ideas can be found in the book I consider his best, Love and Will . In his efforts at reconciling Freud and the existentialists, he turns his attention to motivation. His basic motivational construct is the daimonic . The daimonic is the entire system of motives, different for each individual. It is composed of a collection of specific motives called daimons .