How did enlightenment philosophy affect government, society, and the arts

Before the Enlightenment governments of Europe were primarily Divine Right Monarchies, which means that the King was "selected by God and was God's spokesperson on Earth." In other words, to disobey or disagree with the king was to disagree with God. Not surprisingly, there was no division between Church and State (each country had an official "state" religion), no checks and balances, no separation of powers, no freedom of speech, and commoners had no rights. On the other hand, the nobility had many rights.

The Enlightenment thinkers argued against these traditions, and called for individual freedoms, governments of the people, and religious freedom. They were "enlightened" because they believed that humans could answer questions for themselves, and sought ways to put this philosophy into practice.

So, in comparison, governments after the Enlightenment (which led to the Age of Revolutions) tended to end noble privileges, create constitutional monarchies (limiting the king's powers) with separation of powers, and checks and balances, and called for freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

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