  This paper explores the argument structure of the concept of spontaneous
symmetry breaking in the electroweak gauge theory of the Standard Model: the
so-called Higgs mechanism. As commonly understood, the Higgs argument is
designed to introduce the masses of the gauge bosons by a spontaneous breaking
of the gauge symmetry of an additional field, the Higgs field. The technical
derivation of the Higgs mechanism, however, consists in a mere re-shuffling of
degrees of freedom by transforming the Higgs Lagrangian in a gauge-invariant
manner. This already raises serious doubts about the adequacy of the entire
manoeuvre. It will be shown that no straightforward ontic interpretation of the
Higgs mechanism is tenable since gauge transformations possess no real
instantiations. In addition, the explanatory value of the Higgs argument will
be critically examined.
