The General Zero Principle: Formalizing the Indeterminate Ground of Determination A Solution to the Infinite Regress Problem

This paper presents and defends the General Zero Principle (GZP): the claim that all determination requires an indeterminate ground. I demonstrate that GZP provides the only non-arbitrary solution to the infinite regress problem that arises whenever we attempt to ground determinate entities, truths, or meanings. The paper proceeds in four parts. First, I formalize the principle and distinguish it from foundationalism, coherentism, and infinitism. Second, I prove its logical necessity through transcendental and regress-stopping arguments. Third, I show its implicit recognition across philosophical domains—from logic and mathematics to metaphysics and epistemology. Fourth, I demonstrate GZP’s applications and address major objections. The principle emerges not as another metaphysical posit, but as the transcendental condition for determination itself, with implications for how we understand boundaries, foundations, and systematic thought. Keywords: infinite regress, determination, grounding, foundations, indeterminacy, Gödel, Spencer-Brown, metaphysics, logic, first principles