Wittgenstein's family resemblance theory works in the following manner. Imagine that you have three traits such as eye color, hair color and nose shape. Your sister resembles you regarding the hair color and nose shape but she has a different color eyes and ears different from yours. Her ears are like those of your brother who happens to have eyes and hair unlike your. However, he has your nose shape and you resemble him somewhat but not as much as you resemble your sister. Your brother has more of your dad's traits but you don't have any traits of your dad. We still think of you as being in the same family as your dad because your traits and his overlap through their appearances in your brother and sister.
Wittgenstein's theory has been described in the following manner:
• You have traits A, B, C
• Your sister has traits B, C, D
• Your brother has traits C, D, E
• Your dad has traits D, E, F
Wittgensteinians think of art in this fashion some works of art seem so different that it seems hard to imagine what makes them both the same kind of thing. But they have traits that they have enough in common with other pieces that we think of as works of art that we think of them individually as works of art. In addition, if those things are art and they are remotely like other things we call art then it seems sensible to say that they belong to the same family even though they do not share any identical features.
