Human Rights Issues in Tourism Development - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 379

The Concept of Human Rights
Foundations and origins
In comparative terms, the concept of human rights has a 'recent origin'
(Davidson, 1993), though the substance of the concept has existed since
antiquity. Two concepts frequently debated in international politics are
human rights and democracy. In the case of human rights, the debate often
originates from its foundations and origins, definition, classification and
content. After first exploring the concept of human rights, this section will
explain why this is the case.
The foundation(s) of human rights is still a bone of contention in human
rights discourse. Several theories have been advanced to address these dis-
putes, but none of them has adequately resolved the foundational debates of
the concept. In this section, three leading theories on the foundations of
human rights, which have dominated human rights discourse, will be briefly
outlined. These are: (i) divine/natural law theory; (ii) natural rights theory
and (iii) positivism. Further, some definitions of human rights and types and
examples of human rights will be considered, as well as the debate about the
universal contents of international human rights.
One of the earliest theories that explains the foundations and origins of
human rights is divine/natural law theory. Proponents of this theory were
mostly Western medieval theologians. According to these philosophers,
human rights derive their foundations from divine/natural law. Medieval
theologians considered all human beings as equal because they believed all
human beings were created by one God (Shestack, 2000). This subsequently
led them to believe in a common universal nature for mankind (Shestack,
2000). According to medieval philosophers, God created human beings to be
free and autonomous. At the same time, however, God also created divine/
natural laws to regulate human life to ensure harmony. Thus, while every
man was free to determine his actions concerning his life, he was, at the
same time, obliged to ensure that he did not upset others in the pursuit of
their freedoms. To further drive this point home, medieval philosophers
often relied on 'The Golden Rule' in the Bible, which states that 'in every-
thing [you should] do to others as you would have them do to you; for this
is the law and the prophets' (Matthew 7:12, The Holy Bible New Revised
Standard Version ). For medieval theologians, 'The Golden Rule' is the founda-
tion of all natural (human) 'rights' and 'duties'.
Some modern secular scholars, such as Hugo Grotius and John Locke,
made attempts to 'refine' natural law theory into natural rights theory by
giving the former a 'rationalistic identity' (Davidson, 1993; Shestack, 2000).
In his Two Treatises of Civil Government (1689), Locke argued that nature gave
every individual the rights to life, liberty and property (Morgan, 2005; van
der Vyver, 1979). In his state of nature, Locke argued that every man had the