3.33 In logical syntax the meaning of a sign should never play a role; it must be able to be established without anything thereby being said of the meaning of a sign, only the description of the expressions being presupposed.

McManus calls this and the following remark about Russell obscure. On p. 77 he writes: “That we should simply strive to make more apparent the difference between different symbols, rather than (per impossibile) stating what the difference between the symbols is (for instance, by discussing the different kinds of things to which they refer), helps explain” this obscure criticism of Russell.

Meaning (Bedeutung) here again seems to be used in the sense of object referred to or something like that, as we find in Frege. Logical syntax is thus independent of the world, just as algebra is independent of anyone’s bank account.