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I think purpose and meaning are not related in this instance. The only example I can think of right now is a work of art - its purpose is to stimulate the brain or convey a message but to ask "what is the meaning of this work of art" will often draw a blank, even from the artist. Art often has purpose without meaning.
One may ask in response to that question "what is the purpose of death?" and come across the same mystery.
Death is an event though, it would be analogous to asking "what is the purpose of being born", rather than "what is the meaning of life", it is the outcome of a situation or event that precedes it.
Besides, I took it that @Touring Mars was questioning the format of the question, rather than the validity of the answer - which are two separate things. To me the issue was the use of the word "meaning", which given that definitions such as this...
meaning
[mee-ning]
noun
1.
what is intended to be, or actually is, expressed or indicated;signification; import:
the three meanings of a word.
2.
the end, purpose, or significance of something:
What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of this intrusion?
3.
Linguistics.
- the nonlinguistic cultural correlate, reference, or denotation of alinguistic form; expression.
- linguistic content (opposed to expression ).
...exist, if you wish to question somebody about what they think the purpose of, or reason for, Life is... the "what is the meaning of life?" approach is valid - but open to interpretation.
Somebody once asked me for some interconnects for their Hi-fi, I asked them "How long do you need them?", he said "Two weeks". Given that two weeks isn't a property of a set of interconnects was the answer invalid?, or did the question not make any sense? Or, was it simply a reasonable answer to a reasonable question, that is evidently open to interpretation?