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Most physics teachers assume that V in electrostatics does
refer to a potential difference. By definition V is equal to
the amount of work per unit charge necessary to bring a
small probe charge to a conductor from another location.
My personal preference, in the funny capacitor problem,
is to use the enclosure as a reference location and to
assign V4=0 to it. I am not trying to impose this convention
on anybody. I want to know if it is possible to solve our
problem by assuming that V1, V2 and V3 are differences
of potentials with respect to a large enclosure.
I have no idea
what a potential is unless it is a word referring to a difference
of potentials.