Meaning and Purpose, written by Kenneth Walker, was first published in September 1944 by Jonathan Cape, London, and republished by Pelican Books in 1950.

The purpose of the book, as stated in the preface, was "... to examine critically those scientific theories of the last hundred years which have exerted a strong influence on our thinking, not so much for the purpose of assessing their worth as for that of discovering the effect which they have had on our philosophy of life."

It offered arguments proposing that neither Charles Darwin nor religious creationism adequately described the event of life, intellect, consciousness and various other concepts.

The first chapter opened with a discussion of a passage quoted from Goethe, there described as a poet, philosopher and scientist.

A hostile review in 1949,[1] mentioned that the book referred unfavourably to Karl Marx as never to be regarded as having been a profound thinker and concluded that it was "by a superficial man serving reactionary purposes".