--- title: "4 Cornelius Castoriadis Quotes - Famous Philosopher (L'institution imaginaire de la société)" description: "Cornelius Castoriadis was a Greek-French philosopher, sociologist, social critic, economist, psychoanalyst, author of The Imaginary Institution of Socie..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-cornelius-castoriadis-25184.jpg" --- ![Portrait of Cornelius Castoriadis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-cornelius-castoriadis-25184.jpg) # Cornelius Castoriadis (1922–1997) Philosopher France **4** quotes in **29** categories Rate this collection: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet Cornelius Castoriadis was a philosopher from France, best known for *L'institution imaginaire de la société*. ## Quick Facts About Cornelius Castoriadis Born March 11, 1922 Died December 26, 1997 Nationality France Profession Philosopher Notable works L'institution imaginaire de la société Known for The Imaginary Institution of Society, Crossroads in the Labyrinth, 6 vols., Q138281042 Spouse Piera Aulagnier ## About Cornelius Castoriadis Cornelius Castoriadis was a Greek-French philosopher, sociologist, social critic, economist, psychoanalyst, author of The Imaginary Institution of Society, and co-founder of the Socialisme ou Barbarie collective. ## Quotes by Cornelius Castoriadis > [“Reification, the essential tendency of capitalism, can never be wholly realized. If it were, if the system were actually able to change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-castoriadis/reification-the-essential-tendency-of-capitalism-can-never-be-wholly/) Cornelius Castoriadis [Capitalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalism/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/cornelius-castoriadis-63989_long-run_reification-the-essential-tendency-of-ca_16031.jpg) > [“Either history is really governed by laws, and in that case a truly human-activity is impossible, except perhaps in a technical sense;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-castoriadis/either-history-is-really-governed-by-laws-and-in-that-case-a-truly/) Cornelius Castoriadis [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06e/cornelius-castoriadis-63989_history_either-history-is-really-governed-by-law_415832.jpg) > [Revolution does not mean torrents of blood, the taking of the Winter Palace, and so on. Revolution means a radical transformation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-castoriadis/revolution-does-not-mean-torrents-of-blood-the-taking-of-the-winter/) Cornelius Castoriadis [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d52/cornelius-castoriadis-63989_blood_revolution-does-not-mean-torrents-of-blo_563210.jpg) > [While all societies make their own imaginaries (institutions, laws, traditions, beliefs and behaviors), autonomous societies are those that their members are aware…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-castoriadis/while-all-societies-make-their-own-imaginaries-institutions-laws/) Cornelius Castoriadis [Ancestor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestor/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ec/cornelius-castoriadis-63989_ancestor_while-all-societies-make-their-own-imagi_1224485.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-castoriadis/#itemlist", "name": "Cornelius Castoriadis Quotes", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Reification, the essential tendency of capitalism, can never be wholly realized. If it were, if the system were actually able to change individuals into things moved only by economic “forces,” it would collapse not in the long run, but immediately. The struggle of people against reification is, just as much as the tendency towards reification, the condition for the functioning of capitalism. Capitalism can function only by continually drawing upon the genuinely human activity of those subject to it, while at the same time trying to level and dehumanize them as much as possible.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornelius Castoriadis" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-castoriadis/reification-the-essential-tendency-of-capitalism-can-never-be-wholly/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/cornelius-castoriadis-63989_long-run_reification-the-essential-tendency-of-ca_16031.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/cornelius-castoriadis-63989_long-run_reification-the-essential-tendency-of-ca_16031.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/cornelius-castoriadis-63989_long-run_reification-the-essential-tendency-of-ca_16031.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Reification, the essential tendency of capitalism, can never be wholly realized. 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Revolution means a radical transformation of society's institutions. In this sense, I certainly am a revolutionary.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornelius Castoriadis" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-castoriadis/revolution-does-not-mean-torrents-of-blood-the-taking-of-the-winter/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d52/cornelius-castoriadis-63989_blood_revolution-does-not-mean-torrents-of-blo_563210.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d52/cornelius-castoriadis-63989_blood_revolution-does-not-mean-torrents-of-blo_563210.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d52/cornelius-castoriadis-63989_blood_revolution-does-not-mean-torrents-of-blo_563210.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Revolution does not mean torrents of blood, the taking of the Winter Palace, and so on. 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In contrast, the members of heteronomous societies attribute their imaginaries to some extra-social authority (i.e. God, ancestors, historical necessity)", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornelius Castoriadis" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-castoriadis/while-all-societies-make-their-own-imaginaries-institutions-laws/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ec/cornelius-castoriadis-63989_ancestor_while-all-societies-make-their-own-imagi_1224485.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ec/cornelius-castoriadis-63989_ancestor_while-all-societies-make-their-own-imagi_1224485.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ec/cornelius-castoriadis-63989_ancestor_while-all-societies-make-their-own-imagi_1224485.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“While all societies make their own imaginaries (institutions, laws, traditions, beliefs and behaviors)…” — Cornelius Castoriadis", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-castoriadis/#person", "name": "Cornelius Castoriadis", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-castoriadis/", "image": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-cornelius-castoriadis-25184.jpg" }, { "@type": "ProfilePage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-castoriadis/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-castoriadis/", "name": "Cornelius Castoriadis", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-castoriadis/#person" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/cornelius-castoriadis-63989_long-run_reification-the-essential-tendency-of-ca_16031.jpg" }, "description": "Cornelius Castoriadis was a Greek-French philosopher, sociologist, social critic, economist, psychoanalyst, author of The Imaginary Institution of Socie...", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-castoriadis/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-castoriadis/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Authors", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/authors/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Cornelius Castoriadis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-castoriadis/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```