To those knowledgeable in philosophy, can someone please explain why Wittgenstein is such a big deal? I skimmed the Wikipedia articles on Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations.
I have no idea what's going on in Tractatus.
The points made in Philosophical Investigations---namely that a lot of philosophical problems come down to confusions about language---seems to be interesting and correct to me: but really, did no one before Wittgenstein think about this? I mean, if I read Russell, it seems that he had a similar brand of clear thinking going on. I'm sure various strains of Traditional Rationality were around much before Wittgenstein.
Or is it only because I'm living in the post-Wittgenstein world that I feel that this is relatively obvious?
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.