Final answer:
Enlightenment philosophers such as John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu believed that government should protect individual rights, be subject to change if it does not, and have separated powers to prevent tyranny.
Step-by-step explanation:
Enlightenment philosophers believed government should be limited in multiple ways, focusing on the protection of individual rights and the separation of powers. John Locke, a seminal Enlightenment thinker, propounded that individuals possess natural rights such as life, liberty, and property, and that a government's role is to protect these rights. Locke also argued that if a government fails to protect these rights, the people have the authority to alter or abolish it. Similarly, Baron de Montesquieu advocated for the separation of governmental powers among different branches to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful, a concept that influenced the formation of modern democracies.
Additionally, Enlightenment ideals embraced the concept of the social contract, proposing that governments should operate with the consent of the governed. These ideas were revolutionary at the time and laid the groundwork for the democratic governments that emerged in the aftermath of the Enlightenment, including the American system of government.