The Ramchal wrote the Mesillas Yesharim in 2 formats. The first version was written as a conversation (seder vikuach) between a chacham and a chasid [the second version is what everyone is now familiar with]. In the beginning of chapter #2 of the vikuach version, entitled ‘chovas haadam el boro’, the Ramchal speaks about a mistaken view, that is that God created the world for some purpose that man is not essentially needed for. Man was created for a secondary purpose, after the fact, in order to benefit from the pleasures of the world and to contemplate the beauty and wisdom found within the world. According to this view the objective of the mitzvos is 2-fold, 1: so that man will know that he is a servant and not a master, a creation and not the/a creator and 2: to give order to the existence of man so that he will not be like the animals.
Although the Ramchal, before presenting this view, writes that this view is generated from a lack of knowledge and limited studies [additionally, after presenting this view he writes that despite the fact that there are many sources that seem to confirm this view, it’s a mistake that comes about due to the heart being seduced after ta’avah] , I want to know if this view was actually held by anyone that we know of? I would be more satisfied with Jewish sources that profess such a view, but non-Jewish sources are welcome as well!
[As an aside, I find it very interesting that in the second version of the Mesillas Yesharim, he does not (explicitly) express that his goal in writing is to deny this view.]
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