NO --- Life, especially sentient life has both potential and purpose far beyond chemical reactions.

My grief is with the subtext of the debate. "a means to continue" implies some level of intention or awareness, when there simply isn't one.

Life is what you make of it, and completely subjective to whoever you are, what experiences and opinions you've acknowledged on the way.

So yes to a person who has studied science in a laboratory all their life 'primary chemical reactions' are the be all and end all of life as we know it. To someone that cares little for the explanations of things, the reasons for life might be to 'find happiness'

I personally believe that life is a gaining of awareness through utilizing our experiences, which as a race, i believe we have forgotten. When you acknowledge parts of yourself that is illuminated through experience, you gain more freedom of choice... and eventually when you've experienced it all over a series of consecutive lifetimes, and realized that you have the ability to be everything and nothing at the flick of a switch, the opportunity arises for you to escape as you have more knowledge and awareness than the limits of this reality allow.

Since people can choose to not have kids, I am not sure if that fits here.