PhD student in Philosophy, at University College London
About Me
I am a PhD student in Philosophy at UCL, funded by the LAHP consortium of the AHRC. My research investigates why history matters to political philosophy. Across my work, I defend the idea that political theorising in the absence of historical knowledge leads to systematic forms of error. My first publication on this topic has recently been published in Ergo.
More broadly, I am interested in moral & political philosophy, epistemology, the history of philosophy, and the philosophy of history.
In the summer of 2023, I was a visiting scholar at Yale University. Previously, I spent a year as an interdisciplinary scholar at the UCL History Department, funded by the UCL Research Excellence Scholarship for Cross-Disciplinary Training. Before that, I did my MPhil Stud in Philosophy at UCL, and my BSc in Mathematics and Philosophy with a specialisation in logic at the University of Warwick.
I am originally from Brazil, although I lived in Italy for four years before coming to the UK as an undergraduate. I enjoy pairing philosophy with ever-new forms of exercise. To date, I have enjoyed it alongside judo, rock-climbing, yoga, and swimming. I usually find it helpful to pick those exercises where there are good safety reasons to not let my thoughts drift back to my work. I live in London with my partner and our two cats.
My Research
History in Political Philosophy:
Refutation and Imagination
(Ergo: An Open Access Philosophy Journal, 2025)
Methodologically ahistoricist philosophers argue that historical research has limited relevance to political philosophy as it only serves to validate if a theory is sufficiently historically fact-sensitive. However, this perspective allows for minimal engagement with intellectual history. In contrast, I advocate for a more substantial role of historical research, suggesting that it not only provides evidence to refute political philosophical views but also serves as a source of imaginative resources that prevents a species of epistemic failure I call ‘imaginative failure’.
Historical Essences and Political Theory
(In Progress)
Historical essences are essences that are partly constituted by historical properties. That is, properties that cannot be understood without knowing about the object’s history. In this essay, I argue against the common assumption that the central objects of political theory do not possess historical essences.
Political Realism:
A Re-Characterisation
(In Progress)
The prevalent characterisation of Realism as positing a distinctly political normativity, independent from moral normativity is flawed. It overlooks the broader philosophical outlooks of Ur-Realist authors like Williams and Geuss — in particular, their internalism about reasons. I offer a different characterisation, that is both more interpretatively plausible and philosophically attractive
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My current research divides into two main questions: What advantages does historical fluency with one’s domain of inquiry bring the political theorist?
And, what role do these advantages play in how Political Realists—like Bernard Williams and Raymond Geuss—distinguish their approach to orthodox political theorising?
[Title Redacted for Blind Review]
(Under Review)
I defend the view that methodologically a-historicist inquiry into the political domain is unreliable. Philosophers will not be able to appropriately understand or evaluate the political concepts they work with if they lack a robust historical understanding of those concepts. I use Elizabeth Camp’s account of perspectives to characterise historical inquiry as a form of hermeneutical inquiry, distinguishing it from the default form of inquiry found in philosophy — verdictive inquiry. I then explain why political philosophers should not assume they can get by without hermeneutical inquiry.
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Genealogy Workshops
My MPhil thesis was about genealogical methods in philosophical inquiry. Based on that research, I hosted a workshop on “The Role of Genealogical Inquiry in Moral, Social and Political Philosophy” at MANCEPT 2023.
Previously, I led a panel discussion on “Genealogy in Political Philosophy: Methods, Applications and Problems” at British and Irish Association of Political Theory conference, held at the University of Oxford in 2022.
Contact me if you are interested in developing other events in this area.
Victor Braga Weber 