  In sum, then, given the innovative, retrospective, Platonic and Aristotelian/anti-Aristotelian aspects of Patrizi's thought, what is the best way to “categorize” him as a Renaissance philosopher?  Humanist, scientist, mathematician, literary critic and poet, historian, engineer and utopian theorist, it is hard to find one category which fills the bill. Perhaps there is a message here, not just about Francesco Patrizi of Cherso but about many Renaissance thinkers of his day. Confronted by so many models from previous ages and seeking to discover the best means to move into the future, it is hardly surprising that many of the most open-minded thinkers of the time can best be viewed more appropriately as transitional figures, rather than Platonists, Aristotelians or “philosophers of nature” as many have been claimed to have been. For example, to characterize Patrizi as a “Renaissance Platonist” with such thinkers as Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola is to ignore or understate the significant differences among them. And to see him as a “philosopher of nature” with such contemporaries as Bernardino Telesio and Giordano Bruno hardly fits as well. That he should be so hard to define – both looking back and looking forward – should not disturb us. He was, after all, a “Renaissance” thinker, helping to usher in a new age.