family resemblance

 comes with age. After a certain age, the more one becomes oneself, the more obvious one's family traits become.

After a certain age, the more one becomes oneself, the more obvious one's family traits become.

is a push against the fixity of meaning. We tend to wrongly think of words as labels that we can apply to things, ideas, mental states, and so on.

The idea of family resemblance is Wittgenstein's answer to the idea of fixity of meaning. We tend to think of words as labels that we can apply to things, ideas, mental states, and so on. This leads to the notion that a word like 'understanding' must have one fixed meaning, which we might identify as some sort of mental state or process. When we use the word 'understanding' in different contexts, we think that both uses of the word share something in common.' (sparknotes)

is similar to a rope where the strength of the thread does not reside in the fact that some one fibre runs through its whole length, but in the overlapping of many fibres.

like a thread 'where the strength of the thread does not reside in the fact that some one fibre runs through its whole length, but in the overlapping of many fibres'

is the idea that whereas we are inclined to think that there must be something in common to all games, whereas games form a family, the members of which have family likenesses. Some of them have the same nose, others the same eyebrows, and others again the same way of walking ... and these likenesses overlap.

We are inclined to think that there must be something in common to all games, say, and that this common property is the justification for applying the general term ' game ' to the various games ... whereas games form a family, the members of which have family likenesses. Some of them have the same nose, others the same eyebrows, and others again the same way of walking ... and these likenesses overlap.' (pompa 1967:63)

family resemblance, n.All

family resemblance