There is nowadays a général agreement on the destructuring of the normal biographical pattern from the fîfties with its three main stages: formation or youth - active life or middle âge - retirement and old âge. But a new conceptualization of the second part of the life span in the post-industrial society is still lacking. There is the attempt of the authors. They postulate that the structure of the life span and its stages are organized by the needs and dominant values of society. One cardinal value in modem societies is autonomy - deriving from individualism. Autonomy is an organizing value for every day life during the aging process. This perspective leads to the distinction of four main stages, each of them related to spécifie problems to deal with. A theoretical well based periodization of the life cycle is a necessary heuristic tool for an interprétative approach of the individual as a social actor.