The first part of this article deals with intersubjectivity and how I became interested in research from a Merleau-Pontian point of view. Part two explores the relationship between literary studies and the history of science and ideas. Indeed, I shall analyze the intellectual influence Gérard Simon had on my work, which then led me to a study of optics in Marcel Proust. I focus on the boundaries he draws between sight and visual ray, a distinction which, on a surface level, might appear to be outdated in his time.