A Priority-Based Ontic Structural Realist Account of Bohmian Mechanics

Abstract

I propose a priority-based ontic structural realist account of Bohmian mechanics in which particles are understood as thin, ontologically derivative nodes of a fundamental structure represented by the wavefunction. I argue that the wavefunction plays the role of this fundamental structure by determining the dynamics and providing the structural basis for the individuality of Bohmian particles. This account offers an alternative to existing structural realist interpretations by giving genuine ontological priority to the structure while preserving particles as real, albeit derivative, entities.