It gives us a deeper understanding into why we have certain beliefs and gives us knowledge about such beliefs. However, knowledge of cultural relativism cannot successfully provide purpose in life, as it does not help in setting or achieving goals. Then again, according to Noam Chomsky, "highest goal in life is to inquire and create" and cultural relativism allows us to inquire about different cultures. Therefore, by Chomsky's definition, cultural relativism does indeed provide purpose in life. Thus the issue raised here would be that, depending upon how you define meaning and purpose, knowledge might not necessarily produce both meaning and purpose in our personal lives. .
Similarly, some knowledge may provide purpose in life; however, it won't enhance our understanding of our surroundings or the meaning in life. In my household, my father's knowledge of business keeps him motivated and driven to earn money and follow his ambitions in order to provide for my brother and me. This is encouraging him to work towards success and achieving his goals, which means that having knowledge of business is giving him a sense of purpose. Yet, there is no greater understanding of his surroundings or personal life that could be attributed to the knowledge he has gained by studying business. Therefore it can be argued that knowledge can selectively produce either meaning or purpose in our personal lives. Then again, can knowledge successfully "produce" meaning and purpose in our personal lives? .
Knowledge may guide us towards meaning and purpose in our personal lives however it may not produce meaning and purpose. This is because ways of knowing such as emotion, intuition, reasoning and sense perception are essential to create meaning and purpose in life. Knowledge is simply a body of information that should be interpreted using ways of knowing in order to produce meaning and purpose in life.
