  Adopting the causal reference theory is a sensible thing for the Cornell realists to do, for two reasons. First, it continues their foundational commitment to treating moral properties as a kind of causally-individuated natural property. And second, it helps them evade the Open Question Argument (Brink 2001). By accepting a causal theory of reference, the Cornell realists thereby reject a description theory of reference; for a Cornell realist, moral terms cannot be defined in any verbal way. They simply refer to the (complex higher-order natural) property that causally regulates their use. This makes Cornell realism a form of synthetic naturalism. As we saw in 1.2, Moore’s Open Question Argument shows, at most, that analytic naturalism is false.