who is it?

[con-amca]

Here's an old one.

A man was looking at a portrait. Someone asked him
who he was looking at. He said: "Brothers and sisters
have I none, but this man's father is my father's son."

Whose picture was he looking at?

[naomi24]

Himself.

[JerryB]

My father's son is me, since I don't have any brothers (or sisters). Therefore, I am the father of the person in the picture. Therefore the person in the picture is my son, or one of my sons, since we don't know if I have more than one.
Unless you're talking about fathers in the religious sense - that's a whole new scandal.

[con-amca]

Well done jerryB. Yes, he's looking at a picture of his son.

Sorry Naomi, a good try. If it's any consolation, most people say he's looking at his own picture, I believe.
I did when I first came across the riddle.

As a follow-up you might like to try this one:

Suppose the man had said: "Brothers and sisters have I none, but this man's son is my father's son"? Now whose picture is he looking at?

[gen2]

his father

[naomi24]

Drat - must engage brain before answering in future!

[con-amca]

Right on, gen2. Must give you three stars!

[shortstop]

I must be missing something here.

I agree that it's his son.

But couldn't it also be a picture of himself as well?

If this was a picture of me for example.....then "this mans father" would be my dad, therefore "my fathers son" would still be me???????

Sorry if i'm being thick, but this is going round my head now.

[con-amca]

Hell's bells shortstop, you've got my head going round now!
Maybe I shouldn't have started this.

You agree it's his son's picture, but you think another
interpretation could be that he's looking at a picture of
himself. Let's see:

In that case, "this man's father" would be "my father".

and "my father's son" would be "me".

Put them together, and you get

"my father's son" is "me".

Which is true, but has nothing to do with the picture. It would be saying "Brothers and sisters have I none, but my father's son is me".

So it can only be his son's picture.

Any other offers?

[Littleowl]

I thought it was a picture of himself.

He is an only child, as he has no brothers and sisters.
So this man's father - is his dad,
is my father's son - is himself

[con-amca]

No littleowl, it's not a picture of himself.

We agree he is an only child.

The second clause says
"this man's father is my father's son".

"my father's son" is me.

Substituting "me" for "my father's son" in the second clause gives us:

"This man's father is me"

So he's looking at a photo of his son.

[brian j john]

baldhair ,, he is looking at himself

[Littleowl]

No baldhair,
I think that there are two answers to this poser of yours, depending on who is looking at the picture.

I agree that
"This man's father is me"
So therefore the picture is of me.

If I am looking at the picture it is a picture of ME,

but

if my dad is looking at the picture it is a picture of his son.

[JerryB]

Ho hum. OK, it's a picture of himself (me), and this man's father is my father's son.

"This man's father" is MY father (obviously).

"My father's son" is ME (obviously, since I have no brothers).

Then, "This man's father" (my father) "is my father's son" (me).

So, if that is a picture of me, then I am my own dad. Right. Yes. I can see how that works.

[con-amca]

That's right, jerryB - it can't be a picture of himself.

But I still have to convince brian j john and littleowl.

We all agree that the man looking at the photo is an only child (from clause 1 of his answer).

So everything depends on clause 2 of his answer.

I think we also agree that "my father's son" is "me" -
"me" being the person looking at the picture.

If, when asked who he was looking at, he had replied:
"this man is my father's son", then, right enough, he would have been looking at his own picture ("this man is me").

But he didn't say that. He said "this man's father is my father's son". That is, "the father of this man in the picture is me". Or, "I am the father of the man in the photo, he is my son".

Does that make sense?

Anyway, thanks to all of you for an interesting discussion.

[brian j john]

i think whichever way you look at it , me and son are the same person

[Skreecheeboy]

The answer is his son because the man's father is his father's son, If it was him then he would have had to have fathered himself.

[mibn2cweus]

. . . so it's a picture of Jesus then? ? ?

[mibn2cweus]

. . . or did Jesus have a son ? ? ?

[angeldraws]

NO! The father of the person in the picture, is HIS father's son so change the sex of the person looking at the picture and all will become clear....!

A woman lookin at the portrait says ' brothers & sisters have i none but this man's mother is my father's daughter! HA!
So.....now we change it to either - e.g. a person lookin at the portrait says 'brothers & sisters have i none, but this person's parent is my parent's child'
is that any clearer.....? No? ah well........

[lepers]

http://www.geocities.com/oosterwal/puzzle/dads ona.htm