Family resemblance (German Familienähnlichkeit ^[1]) is a philosophical conception proposed by Ludwig Wittgenstein. In some cases the items named by a single word exhibit resemblances although they do not share a feature common to all of them. The classic exposition is found in the posthumous book Philosophical Investigations (1953) ^[2]. Games, which are used as an example there, have become the paradigmatic instance of family resemblances. Variations on this theme repeatedly appear in Wittgenstein's work, which suggests that it was important for his anti-essentialism. There is a vast literature which connects directly or indirectly with the topic of family resemblances^[3]. Wittgenstein redirects here. ... Book cover of the Blackwell edition of Philosophical Investigations Philosophical Investigations (Philosophische Untersuchungen) is, along with the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, one of the two major works by 20th-century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. ... In philosophy, essentialism is the view, that, for any specific kind of entity it is at least theoretically possible to specify a finite list of characteristics —all of which any entity must have to belong to the group defined. ...

Definition

Wittgenstein introduces the notion of family resemblance in an attempt to explain his seeming evasion of the question of what feature is common to, or what constitutes the essence of, language - the "part of the investigation" (in reference to the Tractatus) that once gave him the most difficulty. Wittgenstein acknowledges this seeming evasion but justifies it by suggesting that there is no "one thing in common" to all that "we call language". Rather, he argues, they are "related to one another in many different ways, and it is because of this relationship, or these relationships, that we call them all 'language'". To explain this point Wittgenstein discusses various examples of things where one might think an essential common feature must be present but which are, he argues, under closer investigation, shown to be connected by the type of relationships that he calls "family resemblance".^[4] Book cover of the Dover edition of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (Ogden translation) Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is the only book-length work published by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein in his lifetime. ...

Games

Wittgenstein first of all asks us to look at all the various things that we call "games" and to consider what is common to them all. He urges us not to think that "there must be something common, or they would not be called games" but to look at them and to see whether they do, in fact, have something in common. For example, he asks us to consider the various board games, card games, ball games, or even the Olympic games, and to note the similarities and differences between them: some games involve winning and losing, some are entertaining, some require skill, or luck, and those in completely different measure. By attending to games in this way, Wittgenstein hopes we can see that there is in fact no feature common to all games, but that they are connected by a network of overlapping and criss-crossing similarities.^[5]

Numbers

Similarly, he argued that there is nothing that all "numbers" have in common; but furthermore that we regularly extend the notion of 'number'.^[6] So we might start by thinking only of the natural numbers, and later learn to extend this to rational numbers, integers, cardinal numbers; but then to irrational numbers, complex numbers, surcomplex numbers, surreal numbers and so on, the only limit being the capacity of mathematicians to innovate. In mathematics, a natural number can mean either an element of the set {1, 2, 3, ...} (i. ... In mathematics, a rational number is a number which can be expressed as a ratio of two integers. ... The integers consist of the positive natural numbers (1, 2, 3, …) the negative natural numbers (−1, −2, −3, ...) and the number zero. ... Aleph-0, the smallest infinite cardinal In mathematics, cardinal numbers, or cardinals for short, are a generalized kind of number used to denote the size of a set, known as its cardinality. ... In mathematics, an irrational number is any real number that is not a rational number — that is, it is a number which cannot be expressed as a fraction m/n, where m and n are integers, with n non-zero. ... The complex numbers are an extension of the real numbers, in which all non-constant polynomials have roots. ... A surcomplex number a reformulation of complex numbers, using surreal numbers instead real numbers. ... In mathematics, the surreal numbers are a field containing the real numbers as well as infinite and infinitesimal numbers, respectively larger or smaller in absolute value than any positive real number, and therefore the surreals are algebraically similiar to superreal numbers and hyperreal numbers. ...

Nor will it suffice to define "number" as the disjunction of each of these types, as: OR logic gate. ...

Here he says '...you are only playing games with words. One might as well say: "Something runs through the whole thread - namely the continuous overlap of those fibres"'.^[7]

Family

What do all the people in a family have in common? Perhaps the answer is nothing.

The third example he uses, and the one that provides him with the name, is a "family". Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2011x1509, 1378 KB) Typical extended middle-class U.S. family from Indiana of Danish/German extraction. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2011x1509, 1378 KB) Typical extended middle-class U.S. family from Indiana of Danish/German extraction. ... For other uses, see Family (disambiguation). ...

I can think of no better expression to characterise these similarities than "family resemblance"; for the various resemblances between members of a family: build, features, colour of eyes, gait, temperament, etc. overlap and criss-cross in the same way...^[8]

Formal models

Prior to Philosophical Investigations the ideal way to give the meaning of something had been thought to be by specifying both genus and differentia. So a 'triangle' is defined as 'a plane figure (genus) bounded by three straight sides (differentia)'.

Logically, this sort of definition can be seen as a series of conjunctions; A triangle is a plane figure and has three sides.

More generally, "P" might be defined using a simple conjunction of "A" and "B":

By examining closely the use of terms such as 'game', 'number' and 'family', Wittgenstein showed that for a large number of terms such a definition is not possible. Rather, in some cases a definition needs to be a disjunction of conjuncts,

but furthermore the way we use such terms means that we can both extend and detract from the series by adding or removing some of the conjunctions.

Nor should we conclude that because we cannot give a definition of "game" or "number" that we do not know what they are: "But this is not ignorance. We do not know the boundaries because none have been drawn".^[9]

Blurred Edges

Family resemblances might be taken to have 'blurred edges'. Wittgenstein points out that in such cases the term nevertheless has a sense; for example one can quite sensibly say 'stand roughly there', indicating a spot by pointing. The lack of precision does not make the expression meaningless. Similarly, even though the definition of 'game' may be imprecise, it is still meaningful.^[10] Furthermore a sharp boundary can be chosen, to suit whatever purpose one has to hand. In such cases, it is the way in which the term is employed, and how it is learned, that are pivotal, rather than any precise meaning. ^[11]

Notable Applications

• Morris Weitz first applied family resemblances in an attempt to describe art ^[12] which opened a still continuing debate.^[13]

• Rodney Needham explored family resemblances in connection with the problem of alliance and noted their presence in taxonomy where they are known as a polythetic classification ^[14]

• Eleanor Rosch used family resemblances in her cognitivist studies ^[15]

Morris Weitz ([wi:ts]) (July 24, 1916 - 1981) was an American aesthetician. ... This article is about the philosophical concept of Art. ... Look up Alliance in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Eleanor Rosch is a professor of psychology at The University of California, Berkeley. ...

Criticism and comments

(forthcoming)

Notes and References

Remarks in Part I of Investigations are preceded by the symbol "§". Remarks in Part II are referenced by their Roman numeral or their page number in the third edition.

1. ^ . In translations of Wittgenstein's works, his term, Familienähnlichkeit is variously translated as both "family resemblance" and "family likeness" with, often, both versions appearing in the same English translation. It may also be that another translation, "familylike-ness", could have better delivered Wittgenstein's meaning.
2. ^ Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1953/2001). Philosophical Investigations. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-23127-7. 
3. ^ Refs needed
4. ^ §65
5. ^ §66
6. ^ §67
7. ^ §67
8. ^ §67
9. ^ §69
10. ^ §71
11. ^ §76-77
12. ^ Weitz M., The Role of Theory in Aesthetics, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 62 (1953): 27.
13. ^ Rfs needed
14. ^ Needham, R. 1975 Polythetic classification: Convergence and consequences, Man 10:349 [1]
15. ^ Rosch E. and Mervis, C. (1975) Family resemblances: studies in the internal structure of categories, Cognitive Psychology 7, 573-605;
    Rosch, E. (1987), Wittgenstein and categorization research in cognitive psychology, in M. Chapman & R. Dixon (Eds.), Meaning and the growth of understanding. Wittgenstein's significance for developmental Psycbology, Hillsdale, NJ.: Erlbaum.

• Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1953/2001). Philosophical Investigations. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-23127-7. 

Wittgenstein redirects here. ... Wittgenstein redirects here. ...

See also

• Prototype Theory

Prototype Theory is a model of graded categorization in Cognitive Science, where some members of a category are more central than others. ...

External Links

Lois Shawver's comments on Philosophical Investigations §65-9 [2]