ABSTRACT
The ideals of the French Revolution that foundered in the Terror are an extreme and tragic illustration of the dangers involved in founding a "New Man" defined as tabula rasa, by his autonomy and his reason, and denying the heritage and constraints of collective life. Autonomy implies the ability to reflect and to determine oneself, to deliberate, to act by choosing among several possible actions. The principle of autonomy does not prevent democratic individuals, as historical individuals, from being concretely faced with a number of constraints arising from the necessary respect for the Rule of Law. The idea of sanitary democracy, another example, was imposed in the medical domain and health establishments after the March 4, 2002, statute on the rights of patients. Modern technology has introduced a discrepancy between the rhythm of the productive life and the biological and psychological conditions of human beings.
