Objective truth has been consistently sought for throughout human history. Unfortunately, when one interprets historical events, it is very hard to come-up with objective truth which in turn hinders the imposition of justice and order in a society. Even in everyday life, the lack of objective truth clouds one’s understanding, which results to confusion so that the root causes of a certain problem become vague and unsolved. Nevertheless, there are ways to arrive as close as possible to the objective truth. One of these ways is to perceive facts, historical events, and evidences from multiple perspectives.
Yang’s main point was supported by Sarah Soh (2008) in her essay entitled, “The Comfort Women.” According to Soh the use of young Korean women as prostitutes during the Japanese occupation of Korea can be perceived from two different perspectives from which two different conclusions can be drawn. The first perspective is the historical perspective wherein prostitution is considered to be the oldest profession. From this perspective the Korean military comfort women issue could not be considered a serious issue. Soh even notes that prostitutes where used by Babylonians in their temples to tame the “wild man” hence it was even considered sacred and essential during those times (Soh 109). The other perspective is the modern moralistic perspective in which all types of prostitutions, especially, forced prostitutions during war times is considered inhuman and immoral (Soh 109). It is therefore, up for the current society to consider these facts and perspectives to come up with conclusions and actions that would be most beneficial to the majority.
Works Cited
Yang, Hyunah. Revisiting the issue of Korean “Military Comfort Women”: The Question of Truth and Positionality. Duke University Press. 1997. Print.
Soh, Sarah. The Comfort Women. University of Chicago: Univeristy of Chicago Press. 2008. Print.
