Read the passage below from Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations carefully and answer the question.
Passage: "I can think of no better expression to characterize these similarities than 'family resemblances'; for the various resemblances between members of a family – build, features, colour of eyes, gait, temperament, and so on and so forth – overlap and crisscross in the same way. – And I shall say: 'games' form a family.
And likewise the kinds of number, for example, form a family. Why do we call something a 'number'? Well, perhaps because it has a direct affinity with several things that have hitherto been called 'number'; and this can be said to give it an indirect affinity with other things that we also call 'numbers.' And we extend our concept of number, as in spinning a thread we twist fibre on fibre. And the strength of the thread resides not in the fact that some one fibre runs through its whole length but in the overlapping of many fibres.
But if someone wanted to say, 'So there is something common to all these constructions – namely, the disjunction of all their common properties' – I'd reply: Now you are only playing with a word. One might as well say, 'There is a Something that runs through the whole thread – namely, the continuous overlapping of these fibres.'"
-- Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, No. 67
Which of the following statement[s] does Wittgenstein imply in the above passage?
Read the passage below from Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations carefully and answer the question.
Passage: "I can think of no better expression to characterize these similarities than 'family resemblances'; for the various resemblances between members of a family – build, features, colour of eyes, gait, temperament, and so on and so forth – overlap and crisscross in the same way. – And I shall say: 'games' form a family.
And likewise the kinds of number, for example, form a family. Why do we call something a 'number'? Well, perhaps because it has a direct affinity with several things that have hitherto been called 'number'; and this can be said to give it an indirect affinity with other things that we also call 'numbers.' And we extend our concept of number, as in spinning a thread we twist fibre on fibre. And the strength of the thread resides not in the fact that some one fibre runs through its whole length but in the overlapping of many fibres.
But if someone wanted to say, 'So there is something common to all these constructions – namely, the disjunction of all their common properties' – I'd reply: Now you are only playing with a word. One might as well say, 'There is a Something that runs through the whole thread – namely, the continuous overlapping of these fibres.'"
-- Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, No. 67
Which of the following statement[s] does Wittgenstein imply in the above passage?
Show Hint
- The one fibre supposed to run through the length of the thread corresponds to what is supposed to be common to all numbers
- The overlapping of the fibres corresponds to the family resemblance Wittgenstein is trying to explicate
- It is absurd to insist that there is one thing common to all the members of the family
- To describe a family resemblance is another way to describe the common property shared by all the family members
The Correct Option is A, B, C
Solution and Explanation
Wittgenstein, in the Philosophical Investigations, introduces the concept of family resemblance:
- (A) The image of a single fibre running through the thread refers to the mistaken notion that there is a single common property across all uses of a term like "number." Wittgenstein critiques this notion.
- (B) Correct: He stresses that the overlapping fibres correspond to similarities between members of a family (e.g., games, numbers). This is the essence of family resemblance.
- (C) Correct: Wittgenstein insists it is absurd to look for one essence common to all members; instead, meanings are related through overlapping similarities.
- (D) Incorrect: Family resemblance does not mean a single common property shared by all, but rather a network of overlapping similarities.
\[ \boxed{\text{Therefore, A, B, and C are implied by Wittgenstein.}} \]
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