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The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 1998 49(4):531-555; doi:10.1093/bjps/49.4.531
© 1998 by British Society for the Philosophy of Science
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Understanding Electromagnetism

Gordon Belot

Department of Philosophy, Princeton University Princeton, NJ 08544, USA

It is often said that the Aharonov-Bohm effect shows that the vector potential enjoys more ontological significance than we previously realized. But how can a quantum-mechanical effect teach us something about the interpretation of Maxwell's theory—let alone about the ontological structure of the world—when both theories are false? I present a rational reconstruction of the interpretative repercussions of the Aharonov-Bohm effect, and suggest some morals for our conception of the interpretative enterprise.


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