Full Idea
We do not make the least addition to a thing when we declare the thing 'is'. Otherwise it would not be exactly the same thing that exists, but something more than we had thought in the concept, so we could not say the exact object of my concept exists.
Gist of Idea
Saying a thing 'is' adds nothing to it - otherwise if my concept exists, it isn't the same as my concept
Source
Immanuel Kant (Critique of Pure Reason [1781], B628/A600)
Book Reference
Kant,Immanuel: 'Critique of Pure Reason', ed/tr. Guyer,P /Wood,A W [CUO 1998], p.567
A Reaction
This still strikes me as a wonderful objection to the ontological argument for God. It raises the question of what 'is' does mean. Is it a 'quantifier'? What is the ontological status of a quantifier?
Related Idea
Idea 5612 You add nothing to the concept of God or coins if you say they exist [Kant]