WALTER BENJAMIN AMONG PHILOSOPHERS' IS CROSSED BY A CONTRADICTION. WELL, ALTHOUGH HE HOLDS THAT BENJAMIN HAS A PLACE AMONG THE PHILOSOPHERS, BUT WITHOUT BEING ONE OF THEM, IT PLACES HIM AT THE SAME TIME WITHIN CERTAIN TRADITIONS, AND MAKES HIM ADDRESS A SERIES OF PHILOPHICAL ARGUMENTS, THUS MAKING HIM, FINALLY, A PHILOSOPHER, BUT NOT NECESSARILY ONE OF THE BEST. BUT BENJAMIN SHOWS NO INTEREST IN A SUBJECT THAT CHARACTERIZES AN IMPORTANT PART OF POST-NIETZSCHEAN EUROPEAN THOUGHT: THE CONSUMMATION OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE WEST. A VERSION OF THIS THEME IS FOUND IN HEIDEGGER'S REFLECTIONS ABOUT THE 'END' OF PHILOSOPHY; ANOTHER, IN THE ANALYSIS, IN DERIDA, OF THE 'CLOSURE' OF LOGOCENTRISM. SUCH PHRASES EVIDENCE A SIMILAR CONTRADICTION, SO THAT AN ANSWER, ALSO SIMILAR, AND DIRECT, BECOMES INEVITABLE: DESTRUCTION OR DCONSTRUCTION. HOWEVER, NOT BEING AT ALL OLIVER TO THE SUBJECT OF DESTRUCTION, THIS IS NOT THE WAY BENJAMIN RELATES TO PHILOSOPHY. RATHER, IN HIS WRITINGS HE ACCOMPANIED THE PHILOSOPHERS, PLAYING A ROLE SIMILAR TO THAT OF SANCHO PANZA, WITH HIS OWN STOCK OF DISCONCERNING PROVERBS. AND WHAT KAFKA SAYS ABOUT SANCHO PANZA, AND WHAT BENJAMIN QUOTES AT THE END OF HIS LONG ESSAY ON KAFKA, ALSO APPLIES, WITH MINOR MODIFICATIONS, TO HIS OWN PRESENCE AMONG THE PHILOSOPHERS: 'BEING A FREE MAN, SANCHO PANZA SERENELY FOLLOWED DON QUIXOTE IN HIS CAMPAIGNS, PERHAPS DUE TO A CERTAIN FEELING OF RESPONSIBILITY, AND HE ENJOYED GREAT AND USEFUL ENTERTAINMENT UNTIL ITS END'.