Hubble’s Law and the Interpretative Choice: Does the Standard Model’s Spatial Ontology Conflict with Electromagnetism

Abstract

The apparent superluminal recession of distant galaxies, inferred from Hubble’s law, presents a well-known challenge to special relativity. The standard cosmological model resolves this by interpreting the recession as a consequence of the expansion of space itself, rather than motion through space. This paper examines the ontological implications of this resolution. We argue that while the expanding space interpretation is mathematically consistent within general relativity, it implicitly commits to a substantivalist view of spacetime that stands in tension with the treatment of the vacuum in classical electromagnetism. We do not claim that this tension amounts to a logical inconsistency, but rather that it represents an interpretative choice with philosophical consequences that deserve scrutiny. By exploring how the constants µ0 and ϵ0 are understood in different theoretical contexts, we highlight that the nature of space—whether a void or a dynamic structure—remains an open question. We then survey several alternative interpretations of cosmological redshift, noting both their motivations and their challenges, to emphasize that the current paradigm is not the only logically possible one. The aim is not to advocate for a specific alternative, but to encourage critical reflection on the ontological commitments embedded in our most successful theories.

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