Full Idea
On saying that a particular number exists, we are not saying that there is something identical to it, but saying something about its status as a genuine constituent of the world.
Gist of Idea
The existence of numbers is not a matter of identities, but of constituents of the world
Source
Kit Fine (The Question of Ontology [2009], p.168)
Book Reference
'Metametaphysics', ed/tr. Chalmers/Manley/Wasserman [OUP 2009], p.168
A Reaction
This is aimed at Frege's criterion of identity, which is to be an element in an identity relation, such as x = y. Fine suggests that this only gives a 'trivial' notion of existence, when he is interested in a 'thick' sense of 'exists'.