Marcuse's interpretation of the relationship between psychoanalysis and society is presented. Marcuse notes that the ontogenetic theory of psychoanalysis, with its basic assumption concerning antagonistic psychic agencies, is becoming outdated because the continuing development of industrial society leads to the debilitation of the family as a socializing agent and to the gradual elimination of the social-psychological conditions required for individuation. Freud's approach to group psychology seems today a more suitable paradigm for the relationship between individual and society. By its very asynchrony, the older Freudian theory documents the repressive nature of societal 'progress' and thus becomes qualified as a critical theory. It should help us capture not only the vanished figures of freedom and individuality, but also an unknown freedom which still lies beyond the current reality principle.